PORT TOWNSEND — Bob Low, who resigned as chief of the Quilcene Fire Department on June 23, has found a new job with East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.
Low will begin working as assistant chief of support services on July 18, replacing Assistant Chief Steve Craig who completes his 16-month contract on July 29, department spokesman Bill Beezley announced Thursday.
Low will make $70,000 a year. He accepted the job this week.
Originally, Low’s last day on the job at the Quilcene Fire Department was to be next Thursday, but he pushed the date up to collect paid vacation, said Chief Bob Moser, who is serving as interim chief of the Quilcene department.
Moser said that Low has now left the employ of the Quilcene Fire Department.
“I’m sorry to see him go,” Moser said.
“We lost a great chief.”
In addition to his duties supervising facilities and apparatus, Low also will oversee the East Jefferson Fire-Rescue fire inspection and prevention programs, Beezley said in a prepared statement.
Craig will continue to provide periodic consulting services to the department as new apparatus is acquired and planned station upgrades are made, Beezley said.
Chief Gordon Pomeroy said that he had known about Craig’s upcoming departure for some time, and so had been on the lookout for a replacement.
“When Chief Low suddenly became available, he shot to the top of my short list,” Pomeroy said in the statement.
“It’s not often that a man with his experience, abilities and reputation becomes available in our area.”
Low has 12 years of experience as a fire marshal in the San Juan Islands and about the same amount of experience in fire investigation.
He said that the new job is a good fit.
“The goals of EJFR are consistent with my goals — focusing on customer service, professionalism and quality in our work,” Low said in the statement.
Low, who was hired in February 2010 as Quilcene fire chief to replace the late Bob Wilson, said when he resigned that he could no longer work with fire district commissioners David Ward and Mike Whittaker.
The Quilcene Fire Department has been troubled with allegations of improper conduct by the two commissioners over the board’s creation of an $800-a-month job for Ward in January 2010.
Ward was paid $800 a month to retrieve and decipher district data from outdated computer disks left by Wilson when he died of cancer in April 2009 after leading Quilcene Fire District No. 2 since 1992.
At a June 29 meeting, Ward and Whittaker were told that a recall action would be initiated against them on the following day if they did not resign.
The two commissioners did not resign.
The recall action was submitted to the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office on June 30.
It is expected to be filed in Jefferson County Superior Court on Monday.
After the recall document is filed, the court has two weeks to set a hearing on the matter, said Port Townsend attorney Peggy Ann Bierbaum, a Quilcene resident who initiated the recall action.
It must be ruled on by a District Court judge before petitions can be prepared.
Also on Monday, the Quilcene Fire District commissioners will discuss hiring a new chief.
That meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Bob Wilson Fire Station, 70 Herbert St.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
