Sequim’s current fire inspector Mike Mingee was selected to serve the remainder of former Clallam County Fire District 3 fire commissioner Steven Chinn’s term through November.
Commissioners Bill Miano and Jeff Nicholas appointed Mingee to the role at the April 18 commissioner’s board meeting; Mingee gave his notice the same day.
He will start the commissioner appointment on May 2.
“I have some things I can bring to the board,” Mingee said at the meeting via Zoom.
Mingee has served 40 years in the fire service, including time as fire chief of East Jefferson Fire & Rescue and the City of Port Townsend.
He was hired as a part-time fire code technician in June 2021 through an inter-local agreement contract between Fire District 3 and City of Sequim.
At the meeting, Mingee shared his intention to file in May to run in the election for Chinn’s seat.
Miano said Mingee approached him a few weeks ago about running prior to Chinn sending in his resignation to the fire district on April 4.
“He’s intimately familiar with the growth and changes coming in the district,” Miano said of Mingee after the meeting.
Miano and Nicholas agreed that, with important long- and short-term decisions coming up, they wanted to have a full three-member commission — particularly with an upcoming planning workshop, set for 6-8 p.m. April 26, and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. April 27-28.
Mingee will participate at the workshop as a citizen, Nicholas said.
As for choosing someone before the filing period May 15-19, Nicholas said he had spoken in the past year to the most frequent meeting attendee Duane Chamlee, and his opponent in the 2021 election, and he wasn’t interested.
Commissioners had 90 days to appoint someone or the Clallam County commissioners would have had to appoint someone, per Washington code.
Mingee asked to remain a volunteer firefighter along with being a commissioner, and the commissioners said it shouldn’t be a problem; Nicholas also serves as a volunteer.
Fire district leaders said Mingee will also continue to serve as a leadership instructor for the U.S. Fire Administration and the Washington State and California State Fire Marshal’s Office, and volunteer in Olympic National Park as a National Ski Patroller at Hurricane Ridge.
Mingee joined the fire district’s Station 35 in Diamond Point as a lieutenant in 2018, fire district leaders said. In 2021, he was hired as fire code technician after building and business inspections stopped following a staffer retirement in 2020.
Fire District 3 chief Ben Andrews said they’ll open the application process quickly to fill the fire inspector role.
Chinn, the former fire commission chairman, served in the fire service for 34 years mostly as a volunteer firefighter. He was appointed in July 2016 to the board of commissioners and elected in 2018.
He was also an elementary and middle school teacher for 31 years in Chimacum and Sequim School Districts.
Chinn said he plans to coach the Sequim High School wrestling team for one more year before “passing the torch.”
Chinn said in an interview the Jan. 12 death of Capt. Charles “Chad” Cate, a firefighter and wrestling coach, was a factor in his resignation, along with his own personal health, and consideration of his family.
“My relationship with my family is more important than anything,” he said. “I’ve short changed my family for way too long.”
At the April 18 meeting, commissioners voted to make Miano chairman of the board and Nicholas vice-chairman.
For more information about Clallam County Fire District 3, visit ccfd3.org.
