The process to find a new Clallam County District 3 fire chief has started.

Fire commissioners in a July 5 special meeting unanimously agreed to a $17,500 contract with Issaquah recruitment firm Prothman to find and vet candidates for the district’s top administrator.

“The next chief is going to be pivotal,” fire commission chair Bill Miano said in an interview.

“It’s the CEO (of the fire district) and with anticipated growth, we’ll be delivering services differently at a higher and a more consistent level of service.

“It’s all about the service delivery and how we need to respond. Big changes are coming.”

The recruitment effort follows former fire chief Ben Andrews exercising an option in his contract April 26 to work remotely as the district transitions to a new chief. He’ll officially retire in April 2024.

Both Andrews and now interim fire chief Dan Orr announced in March their intent to retire within about a year.

Orr said he’d stay on as long as the district needs him once a new chief is found.

“I don’t think I’d be on that long,” he said.

Finding someone to lead the fire district is critical, Orr said.

“We are a department going through a tremendous amount of change,” he said. “This individual will lead this organization and put the pieces in place for the next five to 10 years.”

The fire district’s leadership organizational chart restructured this year to include a fire chief, deputy chief and three battalion chiefs, compared to an organizational structure used in recent years of a fire chief and three assistant chiefs.

Fire district staff estimate the total cost for finding a new lead administrator could be as much as $25,000, including the search firm contract, travel expenses for candidates and other miscellaneous expenses.

According to the contract, Prothman will host in-house interviews with fire commissioners and some staff, union leaders and other stakeholders in mid-August, building a profile for the future fire chief listing.

Miano said fire commissioners’ goal is for the job listing to go out in September, with a new chief starting in January.

According to a fire district report, some of Prothman’s duties include the position profile, recruiting, screening and coordinating final interviews.

The future chief will need to examine the district’s current state, and what needs to be accomplished in the short and long term while considering the district’s strategic plan, Miano said.

Prothman’s warranty states that if the district follows the major elements of their process and a top candidate is not chosen, or a finalist is terminated or resigns within one year from the employment date, they’ll repeat the recruitment process with no additional professional fee, aside from expenses.

Elements of their recruitment process include candidate screenings, background checks and interviews for eight to 15 candidates. Prothman representatives will advise commissioners in person or via Zoom about each of the candidates and commissioners will narrow the finalists to three to six, according to a fire district report.

Miano said they’ll likely have a public meet and greet with the finalists, and they’ll solicit input from 10-12 community stakeholders on the candidates, along with staff comments.

Prothman was the only recruitment firm the fire district considered due to a lack of applicants, Miano said, and with other possible firms the job listing was either out of their expertise area, operating area, and/or they weren’t available to start the process right away.

However, district leaders, such as Orr have worked with the firm before.

“We picked a good outfit that’s going to find us the best fit for this organization,” Orr said.

For more about Clallam County Fire District 3, visit ccfd3.org.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Michael Dashiell Clallam County Fire District 3 Fire chief Ben Andrews speaks at the memorial for Capt. Charles “Chad” Cate in January. Andrews announced in March plans to retire in a year, and he moved to remote work in April leading fire commissioners to begin the process to hire a firm to hire a new fire chief.