John Nohr, a Camas resident and 28-year veteran of Portland Fire & Rescue, will take the lead for Clark County Fire & Rescue next month, making him the first chief hired from outside the district’s ranks.
Nohr laughed when he said he learned of his outsider status only recently. Every fire department works to train and retain its own leaders. He said it was an honor that the district felt comfortable and confident enough to go with him.
The district searched across the West Coast, whittling a field of six applicants from Oregon, Washington, Nevada and California down to two following meetings with firefighters, city government and agency representatives within the district and other stakeholders, interim Chief Rob Oliver said.
The board picked Nohr, who leaves Portland as its chief of emergency operations. There are about 590 people in that division, Nohr said.
“If it rolls out the door on a call,” he said, he’s responsible for it. Save for a year in Kent, he’s spent all of his career in Portland, where he’s also been chief for training and fire marshal.
Portland was sad to lose him, Oliver said. “He’s just a real quality guy.”
His annual pay will be about $133,000, Oliver said.
The district’s commissioners brought Oliver, a former Vancouver and firefighter and Redmond, Ore., chief, out of retirement to steward the district through the hiring process for a new, full-time chief.