South Snohomish County Fire swears in three assistant chiefs, honors wildland firefighters

CHIEF OFFICERS: From left, South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Bruce Stedman congratulates the department’s newest Assistant Chiefs: Doug Dahl (Operations), Scott Goodale (Training) and Kevin Zweber (Fire Prevention).

South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue Board of Commissioners last week swore in three assistant fire chiefs and honored 15 firefighters deployed to wildfires this year.

Doug Dahl, Scott Goodale and Kevin Zweber were sworn in and promoted to the rank of Assistant Chief.

Dahl was promoted to Assistant Chief of Operations. His duties include overseeing firefighting personnel and station operations, fleet and facilities. Dahl started his career in 1986 with Pierce County Fire District 10. He joined the Edmonds Fire Department in 1989 and promoted through the ranks to Battalion Chief. He continued to serve as a Battalion Chief after the Edmonds Fire Department joined Snohomish County Fire District 1 in 2010. In December 2014, Dahl was promoted to Deputy Chief and continued to serve in that capacity after Fire District 1 and the Lynnwood Fire Department consolidated to form South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue on Oct. 1. Dahl is chair of the Snohomish County Operations Committee and is a certified liaison officer with the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team.

Goodale was named Assistant Chief of Training. His duties include overseeing firefighter training, assessing training needs, developing testing to support certification and competency requirements and managing training division staff. Goodale started his career as a volunteer in Oregon and was hired by the Marysville Fire District in 1994. There he promoted through the ranks to Battalion Chief and most recently served as the district’s Training Chief. Goodale is a graduate of the the Executive Fire Officer program at the National Fire Academy.  He has been involved in the Snohomish County Regional Training Consortium, an assignment that he will continue in his new role at South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue.

Zweber was promoted to Assistant Chief of Fire Prevention. His duties include overseeing fire inspection activities, building plan reviews to assure adherence to fire prevention codes and administering fire prevention education for the public. Zweber previously served as Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal. He began his fire service career in 1990 with Snohomish County Fire District 11, which consolidated with Fire District 1 in 2000. Zweber was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1994, Deputy Fire Marshal in 2013 and Fire Marshal in 2016. Zweber serves as treasurer of the Snohomish County Fire Prevention Association and is a board member of the Region 4 Fire Investigation Council.

WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS: South Snohomish Fire & Rescue honored 15 firefighters deployed this year to wildfires in Eastern Washington, Oregon and California. Pictured, from left, are presenter Assistant Chief of Operations Doug Dahl, Capt. Micah Gaston, Danielle DeVos, Paul Stead, Scott Fitzpatrick, Patrick Moore, Moises Castellon, Scott Johnston, Fire Chief Bruce Stedman, Acting Capt. Josh Peterson, Keith Bien, Capt. Chris Karg, Capt. James Curtis, Capt. Don Welch and Corey Palmer. Certificate recipients Phil Pons and Pat Curran are not pictured.

The board also honored 15 firefighters deployed this year to wildfires in Eastern Washington, Oregon and California: Captains James Curtis, Micah Gaston, Don Welch and Chris Karg; Acting Captain Josh Peterson; and Firefighters Keith Bien, Moises Castellon, Pat Curran, Danielle DeVos, Scott Fitzpatrick, Scott Johnston, Patrick Moore, Corey Palmer, Phil Pons and Paul Stead. States have agreements to allow deployments of out-of-area crews when an incident becomes so large it overwhelms local resources. The opportunity to serve on a large-scale incident provides valuable lessons to better prepare firefighters for future emergencies when they return home.

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