New Fire Chief Named for Woodinville Fire & Rescue

Woodinville Fire & Rescue has a new fire chief by way of a unique partnership, fire officials said in a news release on May 24.

In addition to his responsibility as Bothell Fire Chief, Bob Van Horne will become the fire chief of Woodinville Fire & Rescue. 

An agreement reached between Woodinville Fire & Rescue and the Bothell City Council allows Van Horne to serve as fire chief for both agencies.

In addition, Bothell’s deputy fire chief Jim Roepke will serve as the deputy chief of operations for both agencies. In the agreement, Woodinville Fire will pay City of Bothell half of the total cost of compensation for the two chief officers. The fire training division of Woodinville and Bothell will also be combined to serve both departments.

“I think this is a great example of two agencies working together to achieve efficiencies that will benefit both communities," Woodinville Interim Chief Mark Risen, who has been on loan from Bellevue Fire Department for the last six months, said of the new appointment in a news release. 

The partnership will take effect on June 1, 2013. The agreement is drafted to last two years. During the two year time frame, Woodinville Fire will look at additional efficiencies, operational models and long term ideas for the leadership for the District.

“Both agencies are excited with this announcement," said David Weed, community services officer of Woodinville Fire. "The communities will not notice any changes to service as this applies to how each department is administrated at the chief officer levels.” 

Interim Chief Risen and Chief Van Horne have already begun the transition phase between the chief officers.

Risen will return to his role of Deputy Fire Chief with Bellevue Fire Department on June 1. 

Van Horne has been Bothell's fire chief since the end of 2009, according to a story by the Bothell Reporter. That story says he was a deputy fire chief in charge of safety and support services in Renton before that and was with that department for 28 years.