MOSES LAKE - Veteran Moses Lake firefighter Dan Smith was recently named the new chief of Grant County Fire District 5.

He steps into a position left vacant in February, when the district's board of commissioners fired former chief Scott Clendenin. Clendenin, who was hired in September 2010, was let go because the district "wanted to go in a different direction," board chairman Patrick Hochstatter said at the time.

Smith was born and raised in Moses Lake, graduated from Moses Lake High School in 1981 and earned an AA degree in mechanics technology from Big Bend Community College. He went on to a career as a mechanic until, at the urging of his father-in-law, he became a volunteer with District 5 in 1995, working his way into a part-time paid position three years later.

After the district started an ambulance service in 2002, Smith was hired on full-time as an emergency medical technician. He's also been part of several technical rescue teams over the years and was named assistant chief this past January.

"It's a fulfilling position," Smith said of fire fighting. "You're actually giving back to the community a little bit when you can help somebody who is in need, whether it's fire, medical, or whatever."

Smith said his mechanical background has come in handy in a department that maintains - and builds - its own fleet of fire apparatus.

"We don't have a shop to take our vehicles to, we take care of them ourselves," he said. "We design, fabricate and maintain our own trucks, and we can build to suit the needs of everybody in the county, making (the fire engines) a lot more useful."

Smith said his move to chief has been made easier thanks to an experienced crew.

"We've got the depth of good people here that's made the transition a lot easier," he said. "It's a great crew. Our mechanic is as much a firefighter as he is a mechanic and our fabricator is the same way. We're diversified in our abilities. We've got people who are firefighters who help with building maintenance. We keep everything inside and don't like to contract things out. It saves us a lot of money and then we have cooler things."

Like fire departments everywhere, Smith said District 5 is always looking at ways to stretch a tight budget, a task made easier by the services of volunteers.

"They're the core of this department," he said. "We're not a big department where everybody's paid, so the volunteers are truly the backbone. We're always looking for more going into the future because we're getting older as we talk. We need to assure that the fire district is sound not only now but into the future."

When asked what changes he might make in his new position, Smith said he'll focus on "fine tuning" the department.

"As times change you have to change too," he said. "I can't predict what the world's going to look like in five years but we have to be able to adapt to it. That's kind of a fire service thing - there's nothing we do that's the same every day."

Smith lives in the Moses Lake area with his wife of 27 years. His son, a former District 5 volunteer, is now an EMT with American Medical Response in Moses Lake.

For more information about Grant County Fire District 5, including how to become a volunteer, visit www.gcfd5.org.