MOSES LAKE - Grant County Fire District 5 Chief Scott Clendenin was asked to resign by the district's board of directors. 

He was asked to step down at a district board meeting Monday night, according to Patrick Hochstatter, Chairman of Grant County Fire District 5's Board of Commissioners.

Clendenin was hired into the position in September 2010, replacing former fire chief Roger Hansen, who retired after 40 years with the district.

"It was time to move on and the fire district wants to go in a different direction," Hochstatter said. "The way the department's run, the ideologies, the relationship with the board - he just wasn't working."

Hochstatter gave no specific reasons for why Clendenin was let go, but he said a Washington State Department of Health (DOH) investigation against Clendenin last year was not a major factor in the board's decision.

Last February the DOH received information alleging Clendenin had knowingly falsified his Emergency Medical Technician certificate. A months long investigation ensued in which Hochstatter says Clendenin was not allowed to practice as an EMT. DOH investigators eventually determined the case against Clendenin was inconclusive and reportedly allowed him to rectify the issue by submitting the necessary requirements for a reissued certificate.

This isn't the first time the district Board of Commissioners has asked a high-level employee to step down. In July of last year the board approved a "release and separation agreement" with former assistant fire chief Dale Bjork, a 28-year employee of the district.

The negotiated agreement was drafted by the district's legal counsel and provided Bjork with $44,000 in severance pay in consideration of a full release of any past, present, or future claims he may have against the district.

Hochstatter at the time declined to comment on exactly why Bjork was let go and why he was given severance pay, but he remarked the money was intended to allay any potential claims that could end up costing district taxpayers more in the long run.

Clendenin was not offered a severance package, Hochstatter said, although he will be entitled to any accrued sick and vacation pay as per the district's termination policy.

Clendenin began his fire fighting career as a volunteer in West Virginia before joining the United States Coast Guard in 1976. He continued to volunteer with a variety of fire departments while stationed in Oregon before retiring as a chief warrant officer.

Before coming to Moses Lake, he was a lieutenant with Pierce County Fire District 13 since 2006.

Grant County Fire District 5 Assistant Chief Dan Smith will act as an interim fire chief, Hochstatter said, but the board has no plans to start looking for a new chief in the immediate future.

"We haven't discussed it," he said. "Lets get through this, see how the department reacts and see if we need to make any changes first. So far, as far as personnel, its been a positive move for the fire department."

Hochstatter stressed he didn't intend to disparage Clendenin in any way.

"He really just didn't fit and, as hard as we tried to make it fit, he was just not the right man for the fire department," he said.