Community meets fire chief candidates

The Ski Inn Taphouse was full of community members and fire staff who gathered last Sunday evening to meet the five semi-final candidates for Sisters fire chief, one of whom will replace Chief Roger Johnson as he retires this summer.

George Dunkel, who provides consulting services for Special Districts Association of Oregon, introduced each of the candidates who made brief statements. The assembled citizens and staff had almost two hours to meet, question, and listen to the candidates. They then had the opportunity to fill out a comment sheet with their assessments of the candidates.

"We wanted to provide an opportunity for the community to be engaged in the process and have the ability to provide feedback if they wanted to," said Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District (SCSFD) board member Kristie Miller.

On Monday, March 4, the board conducted individual interviews with the candidates and then reviewed all the comments from Sunday's gathering. Once the field is narrowed, there will be background and reference checks done on the finalist(s). After all that is completed, a public announcement will be made revealing the new chief.

The district conducted a far-reaching search for Johnson's replacement which began last summer. District Director Jack McGowan indicated the "hybrid" recruitment process included help from the Western Fire Chiefs Association, who made recommendations of possible candidates of which they were aware.

The five semi-finalists who were interviewed on Monday were:

• Timothy Craig is currently the chief of operations and training for SCSFD. He has 21 years in career fire service with one year prior volunteer service. He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer program and has a bachelor's degree in fire administration. He is also a licensed Oregon paramedic.

• Erik Holt is the former fire chief of the Florissant Fire District in Colorado. He was the station captain with the Fort Carson Colorado Fire Department 2013-2022. He served as a lieutenant with the Cascade Volunteer Fire Department in Colorado. He is a national registered Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) B and Colorado EMT B-IV. Holt has a bachelor's degree in fire administration.

• Kyle Nelson is the former fire chief of the Oregon Air National Guard in Portland. He is currently a training lieutenant for the Portland Fire Bureau. He has an associate degree in fire science and is an EMT B.

• Anthony Prior is the current fire chief of Kenai, Alaska. With an associate degree in fire and emergency service technology, he has 28 years of fire service with combination and career agencies. He is an adjunct instructor at the University of Alaska in Hazardous Materials/Firefighter. He is certified as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS).

• Peter Teliha is the division chief of logistics for the City of Austin Fire Department in Texas, where he has served in fire service for 29 years. He has a bachelor's degree in environmental design from Texas A & M. He is certified as a Texas EMT B.

Click here to see related story.