BELLINGHAM — The chief of Whatcom County’s largest fire district says he plans to resign amid a labor tensions and criticism of his leadership.
The Bellingham Herald reported that North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Chief Ron Anderson told staff he was tendering his resignation Friday, though it was unclear when it would become effective.
At a fire commissioners meeting earlier this month, a low-ranking firefighter called for Anderson to be fired, alleging he had steered the department toward “dangerously low staffing levels brought on by imaginary fiscal problems.”
Anderson on Wednesday met with other firefighters who echoed those concerns, and he said he’d resign.
The district has about 100 firefighters, half of them volunteers.
Anderson started his firefighting career in Idaho in the 1970s. He came out of retirement and moved to Washington to take the Whatcom job in 2012.
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