Mike Riel launched what would become a 35-year firefighting career as an East Valley volunteer, serving the same area where he grew up on a hop ranch.
East Valley’s fire chief since 2013, he retired Tuesday.
“My heart was always at home,” he said in a telephone interview. “I wanted to come back and serve my community.”
Riel, one of three brothers with connections to the fire service in the Yakima Valley, went to work for the fire department that serves the Hanford nuclear reservation soon after he became an East Valley volunteer. He spent nearly a decade with that agency while also maintaining his volunteer status with East Valley.
In 1997, already a volunteer captain, he took a full-time position as East Valley’s training officer and then rose thorough every rank.
“He will be hard to replace, without a doubt,” said brother Les Riel, an East Valley fire commissioner since 1996.
Another brother, Joe Riel, retired last year as a Yakima fire captain.