More than 200 community members and fire service personnel turned out to witness the transfer of command from retiring North Kitsap Fire & Rescue chief Dan Smith to his successor, Rick LaGrandeur, Feb. 4.
As a result of these moves, three other members were promoted.
Ryan Buchanan is the new assistant chief for Operations, filling the vacancy created with LaGrandeur’s promotion. Buchanan was raised in Hansville and graduated from North Kitsap High School before joining NKF&R’s volunteer firefighter training program. He was hired as a career firefighter in 2004, promoted to lieutenant in 2014 and earned the rank of shift battalion chief in 2021.
Dan Upton, who lives in Kingston, moves into the role of battalion chief. Upton was raised in Southern California and, after graduating from Huntington Beach’s Edison High School, worked for several years as a machinist before moving north. Upton joined NKF&R’s volunteer firefighter training program in 1998. He was hired as a career firefighter in 2000 and was promoted to lieutenant in 2014.
Scott Trueblood, another Kingston resident, was promoted to lieutenant. He will be featured in this column next month.
The district is also in the final stages of hiring firefighters. One is Trueblood’s spot, but the other three are made possible by the community’s support of last fall’s fire levy.
Also, five NKF&R firefighters are among the hundreds who will enter the Firefighter Stairclimb March 12. Wearing full bunker gear and breathing apparatus, they’ll climb the Columbia Tower’s 69 floors as fast as they can. On the team are Lts. Kris Osera and Trueblood, along with firefighters Harrison “Harry” Hause, Clif McKenzie and Russell Fergus.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the team gathered at Kingston Safeway and used a mechanical stairclimber to practice for the event. During the three hours they were there, community members contributed nearly $2,000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
To support NKF&R’s team with a donation, go to www.tinyurl.com/NKFRTeam2023.
Meanwhile, people can join us to learn about fire prevention and fire safety in a fire extinguisher class March 11 from 10-11:30 a.m. at our headquarters fire station at 26642 Miller Bay Road NE near Kingston. There is no charge, but reservations are required. Sign-up by sending an email to laboda@nkfr.org or by calling 360-297-3619.
Michele Laboda writes a monthly column on NKF&R for this newspaper.
