LYNNWOOD — With more than 44 years in the fire service, Lynnwood fire chief Gary Olson, 70, will retire Oct. 31.
The city will use a system of interim chiefs – Greg Macke, Todd Gates and Gregg Sieloff, currently with Lynnwood’s department – while candidates are interviewed.
“I’m savoring my last days,” Olson told The Weekly Herald. “I look at the Regional Fire Authority consolidation work that is being done by talented individuals and see it as the one tool, in these economic times, which can give citizens the proper level of service.”
During his tenure in Lynnwood, Olson championed getting Medic 7 into the fire department to ensure a quality level of service. Medic 7 paramedics go through a rigorous training at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center.
The hallmark of Olson’s time in Lynnwood is his spirit of cooperation.
“I’ll miss the people,” Olson said. “We have very good people in all the departments. And the people of Lynnwood are fantastic. The community really supports public safety, and our new Rec Center. Now it’s time for me to live the other half of my life.”
When asked what he will miss most, Olson said that working with his colleagues across the county was something he treasured. He served as president of the Snohomish County chief’s association for five years. Together that group standardized recommended operations procedures countywide. Meeting for their weekly breakfast, that group also just talks about fire prevention, incidents and safety initiatives in their respective departments.
“It’s surprising how much we learn from each other,” Olson said.
He has been part of the planning process for a new regional training center in conjunction with area police, sheriff, medic and fire agencies. The center, planned for a spot in Woodinville, would be much closer than the one Lynnwood fire now uses in North Bend.
Olson came to Lynnwood in 1996 following 30 years of service in the Long Beach Fire Department.
Over those years Olson has seen tremendous change. Women have entered the service. Protective gear including breathing apparatus and helmets have been significantly upgraded. But he sites the microwave as being a big boon to the daily life of a firefighter.
“It used to be if we were cooking dinner and had to go out on a run, the meal would just go cold,” he said. “Now we can put a plate in the microwave for a hot dinner.”
Olson’s passion started when he was a 3-year-old. He would walk past a fire station daily with his mother.
In college, two fraternity brothers talked Olson, a criminology major at University of California at Long Beach, into taking the fire department test with them. Of the trio, Olson was the only one to pass the test that launched his career.
Now he plans to travel with his wife Sandy to China and Europe. He has a special trip slated for Hawaii to watch his grandson’s school band represent Arizona at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.
Fire service runs deep in the Olson family. Of Olson’s three sons two are in the family business. Garret is fire chief of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Geoff serves in Bothell and is the union president. Son Greg is in finance.
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