State’s first female fire marshal submits resignation

OLYMPIA – Mary L. Corso, the first woman to be appointed Washington state fire marshal, has resigned for unexplained reasons after six years in charge of the state’s fire protection services.

Corso, 58, was hired in 1998 by then-State Patrol Chief Annette M. Sandberg after the state Fire Protection Bureau was placed under patrol auspices. She submitted her resignation May 7 and quit the same day, Capt. Frederick R. Fakkema said last week.

“Since she’s been here, she did a good job, and she left the bureau a lot better than when she got here,” Fakkema said.

Her departure leaves the fire marshal’s office short two administrators. Assistant Fire Marshal Chris Jensen was resigning Friday to begin work as deputy fire chief for operations in Dupont.

Corso’s superiors in the patrol did not ask or suggest that she leave, Fakkema said.

“She resigned of her own accord,” he said.

Since her resignation, the patrol has been informed that a complaint against Corso was filed with the state Executive Ethics Board, Fakkema said.

He said the complaint involved two issues, but he would not discuss the specifics, adding that he did not believe it was related to Corso’s resignation.

Corso does not have a listed telephone number. Efforts by the Associated Press to contact her Friday were unsuccessful.

The fire marshal’s office assists fire districts and municipal fire departments with investigations and code reviews, collects statistics, runs the State Fire Training Academy, and coordinates statewide fire mobilizations.

The agency also oversees annual fire inspections of nursing homes and residential care centers and licenses fireworks shows and the sprinkler industry, according to the agency’s Web site.

Corso began work as a firefighter in 1977, joined the Minnesota state Fire Marshal Division in 1989 and came to Washington state nine years later, serving under three patrol chiefs – Sandberg, Ronal W. Serpas and Lowell M. Porter.

“She made it through three chiefs, and that’s pretty impressive,” Fakkema said.