EVERETT — There used to be a lot more fire departments in south Snohomish County.
Ed Widdis always believed that fewer departments would mean fewer chiefs, fewer political boundaries and better service for the public. He spent decades working toward that sometimes-controversial goal.
Widdis, 59, retired recently from Snohomish County Fire District 1. He was chief there, at the county’s largest fire district, since 2003.
Widdis now is working as a consultant for the district until they hire a new chief. He resigned earlier than expected because he needs knee surgery, he said.
Widdis grew up in Silver Lake and his parents ran a drywall business. In the 1960s, he was a teen fire explorer for Fire District 11, which once covered the unincorporated areas of Silver Lake, Silver Firs and Mariner High School.
He graduated from Cascade High School, served in the U.S. Air Force and then attended Everett Community College. He was planning to go into law enforcement until he took a class at EvCC on basic medical skills.
He started volunteering as a firefighter for District 11 and also was working part-time for a private ambulance company.
“I was still a young kid. I didn’t know for sure,” he said. “They hired a chief in March of 1980 and then they went ahead and picked up three (full-time) firefighters, and I was one of them.”
Widdis already was moving up the ranks when District 11 merged into District 1 in 2000. Over the years, District 1 signed contracts to provide service to Brier, Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace. He’s proud of that shift toward a more regional approach.
“Years ago it used to be a big deal who was in charge,” Widdis said. “Now it’s not like that anymore. It’s the right thing to do.”
Widdis wanted to move away from a culture of kingdom building, he said, though he acknowledges that some have been critical of District 1’s growth in size and political power.
“We’ve never forced anybody to do anything,” he said. “It is cheaper for (cities) to contract. A lot of the difference is they’re not paying for top management.”
Eventually, Widdis still hopes to see a single south county fire department, with cities joining through annexation. The way it works now, people in the contract cities don’t get political representation when it comes to their fire service. Their fire taxes are calculated differently than those for properties in unincorporated areas.
“That’s why we looked at (contracts) as the first step to get everybody together,” Widdis said.
Becoming one agency is “the next thing,” he said. “Everybody is going to be able to run for (fire commissioner). That was always the intent.”
Widdis lives in Mill Creek, and his wife runs Peabo’s, a sports bar at Murphy’s Corner, where he also works.
“I guess I’ll be the head bus boy,” he said. “Really, I’ve just been happy to have the job I have. It’s been a very fulfilling job.”
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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