John Nohr, a Camas resident and 28-year veteran of Portland Fire & Rescue, will take the lead for Clark County Fire & Rescue next month, making him the first chief hired from outside the district’s ranks.
Nohr laughed when he said he learned of his outsider status only recently. Every fire department works to train and retain its own leaders. He said it was an honor that the district felt comfortable and confident enough to go with him.
The district searched across the West Coast, whittling a field of six applicants from Oregon, Washington, Nevada and California down to two following meetings with firefighters, city government and agency representatives within the district and other stakeholders, interim Chief Ron Oliver said.
The board picked Nohr, who leaves Portland as its chief of emergency operations. There are about 590 people in that division, Nohr said.
“If it rolls out the door on a call,” he said, he’s responsible for it. Save for a year in Kent, he’s spent all of his career in Portland, where he’s also been chief for training and fire marshal.
Portland was sad to lose him, Oliver said. “He’s just a real quality guy.”
His annual pay will be about $133,000, Oliver said.
The district’s commissioners brought Oliver, a former Vancouver and firefighter and Redmond, Ore., chief, out of retirement to steward the district through the hiring process for a new, full-time chief.
Big changes
Nohr’s contract begins May 1, just as the district works to manage increased growth and the loss of its contract for fire services in Battle Ground to Clark County Fire District 3.
Although the more than a dozen firefighters and administrators who lost their jobs have found new jobs or retired after losing the contract, it has still been a hard time for the district, Oliver said, and bringing in a new chief will be another big change.
“It’s a big deal, trying to bring a new culture to the department,” Oliver said. “It’s a new day for us.”
The district covers about 160 square miles in northern Clark County, including the cities of La Center, Ridgefield and Woodland, or about 53,200 people.
Oliver said the board will want Nohr to develop a new strategic plan for the district.
The board has been talking about a merger with Woodland area’s Fire District 2 and seeking a new rating from the Washington Survey and Rating and Board, which affects insurance rates, among other things.
ohr was also a member of the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association board, and said his time travelling around different fire districts was a valuable learning experience.
“(Portland’s) issues aren’t always reflective of what the majority of departments are facing,” he said, noting Oregon’s handful of large districts and many small districts mirror Washington.
The district’s staff has been working to get things in place with collecting available information and lining up stakeholders to meet, so the district can make long-term plans.
Clark County Fire & Rescue will continue to ensure its financial stability, he said, and prepare for growth.
The county is hemmed in by the Gorge, the river and mountains, he said.
“Really, the biggest development’s going to be right up I-5, and that’s the heart of the district,” she said.
Nohr has lived in the county, primarily in the Camas-Washougal area, since 1989, with his wife and college-age daughters.
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Correction appended: This article originally misspelled interim Chief Ron Oliver’s name.
