Bellevue Fire's Mark Risen to Serve as Interim Woodinville Chief

Bellevue Fire Department Deputy Chief Mark Risen will serve as the Woodinville Fire and Rescue's interim chief for the next six months, the Woodinville agency announced.

Risen will be the second interim chief, after Mark Chubb told the board he did not want the job permanently.

Part of Risen's job at Woodinville will be to begin looking at Woodinville Chief I. David Daniel's replacement, according to the fire district.

"It will include what type of process will best match the goals of the Board for the future," according to a statement by Woodinville Fire.

Risen will remain an employee of Bellevue Fire during his interim appointment to Woodinville, and he will be paid his current salary, Woodinville Fire officials said. Woodinville Fire will pay the City of Bellevue the cost of Risen's salary and benefits, according to the fire district.

Woodinville Fire & Rescue commissioners named Risen as the interim chief at a special meeting Dec. 5.

Risen has been with the Bellevue Fire Department since 1983, according to his Facebook page. Woodinville Fire & Rescue has entered into a contract with the City of Bellevue which allows Risen to serve as interim chief in Woodinville for a period of six months. Risen will begin his assignment on Monday, Dec. 17.

The Woodinville Fire chief’s seat became vacant when then chief I. David Daniels and the district entered into a . Daniels’ 19-month tenure in Woodinville was rocky almost from the start, culminating in July 2011 when International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2950 announced a unanimous vote of no confidence in the chief.

Mark Chubb was chosen as interim fire chief of Woodinville Fire & Rescue in August 2011, but he told the board of commissioners in February that he did not want the job permanently. He said at the time that it became clear as interim chief that the District’s fire commissioners and employees faced some very difficult decisions and that he had not succeeded in bringing these issues into sharp focus or bringing everyone together to address them constructively.