Merritt retiring as KCFR chief

Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Warren Merritt is retiring after a long and distinguished career in public safety.

Merritt, who has served almost eight years as Fire Chief for Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, will hang up his fire boots on Dec. 31. Deputy Chief Dan Ryan, who has been with the district for more than 30 years, will serve as the interim fire chief starting in 2020 until a permanent chief is hired.

“Dan will do a great job leading the district,” said Merritt, who previously worked 32 years for the Bellevue Fire Department. “It has been an honor and a privilege to be fire chief and to work with our commissioners, our great team at the administrative office, our maintenance shop, IAFF Local 2856 and our firefighters, who deliver top notch fire and emergency medical services each and every day. It is a great fire department with a bright future. I will miss it.”

Commissioners are among those who will miss Merritt the most.

“On behalf of the Board of Fire Commissioners of Kootenai County Fire and Rescue I would like to thank Fire Chief Warren Merritt for his almost eight years of service to our district and our community,” said BOFC President Paul Wagner. “Under his leadership and with the support of the members of KCFR, we have grown greatly in employees and equipment as well as in our ability to serve our community through training and education. We wish Chief Merritt well in his future endeavors.”

Today, KCFR covers 113 square miles and has four fire stations, including three in Post Falls where the majority of the district’s emergency and non-emergency call activity occurs.

Under Merritt’s leadership, KCFR has grown while continuing to work well with its public safety partners across the Inland Northwest.

“As a team many great things have been accomplished,” said Ryan. “We have remodeled Stations 2 and 3, our Training Center and have replaced our fleet of heavy fire apparatus which sets up the district nicely for the future. Chief Merritt drove these changes here at KCFR and his positive influence will reside on our department for many years to come.”