RSSWest Valley fire chief tops in the state
Yakima Herald-Republic
West Valley Fire Department Chief Dave Leitch
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Chief Dave Leitch of the West Valley Fire Department was recognized this month as the year's top fire chief in the state by a leading professional organization.
Leitch received the award July 8 at the annual conference of the Washington State Fire Chiefs Association in Wenatchee, according to a news release from the fire department.
Leitch, 50, started as a volunteer firefighter in 1977. His father was a West Valley captain, so Leitch had been hanging around the station since he was a kid.
He took his first full-time job with the department in 1990 as a battalion chief in charge of training. He became deputy chief in 1995 and was acting chief in July 2001, when West Valley volunteer Jessica Johnson and three other Central Washington firefighters were killed in the Thirtymile forest fire.
He was fully appointed as chief in 2002.
Nathan Craig, a career officer for several years who was recently appointed as deputy chief by Leitch, nominated his boss for the award.
Craig wrote that Leitch applies his courteous, professional attitude both locally and while representing Yakima County and the state on several boards and councils.
Leitch said he didn't start out wanting to be an administrator.
"I just wanted to be a good firefighter," he said.
During his tenure, the department has added a training center and a station, for a total of four. West Valley and Yakima run a joint station, part of their increasing partnership due to annexation by the city.
Leitch said he enjoys running the department, which has almost 100 volunteers, and has no plans to find work outside the area. He still tries to remain connected with his crews, sometimes helping on the fireline or washing a truck.
"Like my mother always told me, 'Do what's right,'" Leitch said.
* Mark Morey can be reached at 577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.
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