Asst. fire chief to take over for boss, who is retiring

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Assistant chief Rick LaGrandeur will take over for retiring chief Dan Smith, the North Kitsap Fire & Rescue commissioners have decided.

LaGrandeur is a 29-year veteran who has risen through NKF&R’s ranks from volunteer resident to operations chief. He will take over when Smith retires Feb. 4. Smith’s career will be honored and LaGrandeur’s promotion celebrated in ceremonies starting at 5 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Clearwater Casino Resort Event Center.

Smith has been chief since 2008. He started as a Kingston Ambulance volunteer in 1981 and joined Kitsap County Fire District #10 as Emergency Medical Services captain in 1983. In 1984, he brought paramedic service to the communities that now comprise NKF&R.

Smith worked his way through the ranks during his 42-year tenure. Smith has championed cooperation between agencies and was chosen by peers to be the state’s Fire Chief of the Year in 2016. In retirement, he looks forward to spending time with family.

Shortly after Smith announced his retirement in early 2022, a subcommittee of NKF&R’s five-member governing body started looking for its next chief executive officer. The district’s commissioners, elected at large to staggered six-year terms, serve as representatives of the community.

Commissioner Gillian Gregory said that LaGrandeur embodies the district’s long-held values of quality, efficiency, fiscal accountability and innovation.

LaGrandeur graduated from North Kitsap High School and was later hired as a paid firefighter in 1994. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2000, shift battalion chief in 2008 and served for eight years as a representative for the NKF&R’s bargaining units. He became the district’s second-in-command in 2015.

He holds an associate’s degree in Fire Command Administration from Olympic College, a bachelor’s degree in Fire Service Administration from Eastern Oregon University and will complete the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program in 2023.

LaGrandeur and wife RaeNell, a teacher in the Central Kitsap School District, have two adult children and three grandchildren.

NKF&R serves Hansville, Kingston, Miller Bay, Indianola and Suquamish across a 46-square mile area. Its 2021 budget was $10.2 million. In 2021, crews responded to 3,360 incidents from four fire stations. About two-thirds were EMS calls.