Fire captain’s fitting send-off

Published 10:30 pm Monday, March 3, 2008

Bruce Krause knew something was amiss when his crew rushed him off to eat breakfast.

Krause, 56, a captain with Snohomish County Fire District 1, had just finished working the night shift — the final shift of his 31-year career with the fire district.

After breakfast, when his crew brought him back to the station, scores of firefighters were waiting to give Krause the send-off he deserved.

With bagpipes being played in the background, Krause exchanged hugs and handshakes with the firefighters he had known for so long. The district chief, Ed Widdis, gave him a folded American flag. As of Feb. 26, he was officially retired.

“I knew they were doing something, but I didn’t expect the scale that it went to,” Krause said. “It was quite a surprise.”

Krause, who lives in the Meadowdale area with his wife, Roberta, became interested in firefighting when he was a boy. His uncle, a firefighter in Olympia, used to show him the rigs and walk him around the fire station. Later, a close friend of Krause became a firefighter in Edmonds.

Two days before he retired, he brought his wife to work. She rode along with him on all of his calls that night. Now that his job is done, he plans on taking her to Hawaii for a long-planned vacation.

He will miss firefighting.

“What I’m most proud of is the work everyone has done at the fire district, and how they serve the public, no matter how small or how large the event,” he said.

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.

By the numbers

1975:Year he was hired as a firefighter

1979:Year he was promoted to captain

31:Years as a paid firefighter

56:His age

24:Age when he volunteered with the district

25:Age when he was hired by District 1

2:Days left on the job when he took his wife to work for a ride-along

1:American flag presented to him for years of public service