Kirkland City Manager Kurt Triplett announced Joe Sanford has been appointed as the new fire chief for the City of Kirkland, effective May 4. Sanford has spent his entire career with the City of Kirkland and has served as interim fire chief since last fall. He has held every rank in the Kirkland Fire Department since being hired in 1981, including lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, deputy chief and interim chief.
During Sanford's tenure with Kirkland, he was named Chief of the Year in 2012 and 2014, and was Firefighter of the Year in 1989 and 2001. Sanford was also the manager of the Regional Fire Training Division where he supervised the work of battalion chiefs, captains and staff from Kirkland, Redmond, and Woodinville to provide year round training for nearly 300 firefighters, fire officers and chiefs. He was a Washington State Fire Service Training Academy Instructor and was President of IAFF Local 2545 in the late 1980s.
"Chief Sanford has earned this appointment through his excellent work as the interim fire chief over the past 11 months," said Triplett. "He has led the department through a challenging leadership transition, helped implement the new north end staffing and station improvement initiative, improved communications between fire administration and firefighters on the line, implemented our new water rescue craft program and much more."