County hires new fire marshal

The Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office has moved past a rough patch with the appointment of a new leader who pledges to rebuild the department through positive steps.

“We have some problems and challenges,” said County Administrator Cris Gears. “But out of this comes a positive challege.”

David Lynam began his new job on Monday.

Lynam, 46, previously worked for Kitsap County until 1990 as an investigator. He moved to Clark County and then to Tualitin, Ore., where he served as deputy chief and fire marshal.

The six Kitsap County fire districts were actively involved in Lynam’s selection, according to Gears, from helping shape the job description to reviewing the candidates’ credentials and experience.

Gears called the process “a good collaboration with a great outcome.”

He will earn $79,732 annually along with a $3,987 recruitment bonus.

Lynam said he expected to take the next few weeks “getting up to speed with how Kitsap County does things.”

He did not say whether he would implement any special July 4 safety measures, as his predecessor Derrick Crawley always had.

The six county fire districts were actively involved in Lynam’s selection, according to Gears, from helping shape the job description to reviewing the candidates’ credentials and experience.

Gears called the process “a good collaboration with a great outcome.”

Earlier this year, the fire marshal’s office suffered a one-two punch when its inspections were found to be lax and Crawley was arrested for violating a restraining order. Crawley resigned in February, and his duties were shared among the local fire districts.

Natasha Frey of Bremerton filed a restraining order against Crawley, which is in effect until February.

While in Tualatin, Lynam was responsible for fire inspection and investigation services across the district, serving a population of 450,000 in seven cities and portions of three counties in the metropolitan Portland area.

While serving as fire marshal for Clark County, he was responsible for fire investigation and inspection services for 11 fire districts, five contract cities and one contract county.

Under Lynam’s direction, Clark County received a National Association of Counties merit award for his work on Washington’s first comprehensive package of urban interface fire protection measures.

Lynam holds a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration from Western Oregon University, an MBA from Portland State University and EFO from the National Fire Academy. Currently, he provides fire investigation training for firefighters and fire officers, teaches Arson Investigation for the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission and university and National Fire Academy courses in Financial Management.

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