PORT ANGELES — Assistant Chief Dan Huff will move from his role at Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue into a commissioner’s seat.
Huff was selected on Monday by Commissioners Steve Hopf and Keith Cortner to fill the seat vacated by the Oct. 31 retirement of Thomas Martin.
Huff, a volunteer who has served in the district for 45 years, is retiring from the assistant chief position on Dec. 31.
He will take over as a commissioner on Jan. 1, said Fire Chief Jake Patterson.
He was appointed to fill the remainder of Martin’s 14-month term and can opt to run for office in 2023 when the term expires.
The commission seat will remain unfilled until Huff retires as fire chief, Patterson said, and the assistant chief position won’t be refilled.
“It’s going to be great to have him continue,” Patterson said on Tuesday. “This is a great way for him to keep serving the community.”
Huff started at the Gales Addition Fire Station in 1977 and has progressed through all the ranks from firefighter, lieutenant and station captain and is currently the volunteer assistant fire chief.
“He brings to the commissioners position many years of management experience from the fire district where he managed personnel, facilities, vehicle maintenance and training in addition to his emergency response duties,” Patterson said in a press release.
Huff has seen the transition from a 100 percent volunteer district to one that today uses a combination of full-time career staff and volunteer response.
“He has been instrumental in guiding the fire district forward and helping the transition of the district to a Trauma Verified Advanced Life Support ambulance service,” the release said.
In his role as assistant chief, Huff has been attending commissioners meetings regularly for the past 10 years and is familiar with all the issues facing the district today, the release continued.
“The fire district and citizens of Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue are truly lucky to have someone who cares so deeply about the public safety of the community,” Patterson said in the release.
As a new fire commissioner, Huff will be following in the footsteps of his father-in-law, former fire commissioner William Doran, who served as a firefighter and eventually retired as a fire commissioner in 2006.
Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue provides fire suppression and Advanced Life Support emergency medical service to 9,500 people over 85 square miles outside the city of Port Angeles.
It serves the communities of Deer Park, Gales Addition, Mt. Pleasant Community, Black Diamond, Dry Creek and Lake Sutherland.
Forty-five volunteers and eight full-time firefighter/paramedics/EMTs respond to an average of 1,900 emergency calls per year.
