Former Seattle Fire Chief Gregory Dean will be named Monday to head Washington, D.C.’s Fire Department.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser named former Seattle Fire Chief Gregory Dean to lead the Washington, D.C., Fire Department at a news conference Monday, according to The Associated Press. His appointment needs to be confirmed by the D.C. Council.
Dean, 64, led the Seattle Fire Department for 10 years before stepping down in December.
In announcing his retirement, Dean said he planned to stay in the city. The graduate of Seattle’s Franklin High School spent his entire 44-year career with the Seattle department.
“I grew up here; this is home.” he said in October. “But I will travel and take time just to enjoy life itself — that means golfing.”
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Dean told Seattle Mayor Ed Murray in the early days of the new administration that he was looking forward to retirement, but the mayor persuaded him to stay another year, Murray said in a news release in October.
Dean served as the fire marshal, deputy chief and interim chief of Seattle’s 1,150-member department, which has a budget of $174 million. Washington’s department employs 2,100 people and has an annual budget of more than $200 million.
Dean, whose appointment requires confirmation by the D.C. Council, would replace Eugene Jones, who last year took over as interim chief.
Jones replaced Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe, whose tenure was marked by complaints of poor service by firefighters and medical personnel that endangered lives.