HAYDEN — When Pat Riley visited the Hayden Lake Fire District's station during a slowdown with his construction job in 1995, little did he know he was on a new career path.

A tour led to him apply as a volunteer.

Now, after working through the ranks of the former district and later Northern Lakes, Riley is the new chief at Northern Lakes.

"My goal has always been to be the best I can be, and I've aspired to become chief of the department," Riley said.

Riley, who has been Northern Lakes' deputy chief of operations for nearly three years, will replace Dean Marcus, who is retiring. Marcus' last day is Friday and Riley's first day as chief is Saturday.

Riley, 42, will lead the district that serves Hayden, Rathdrum and Hayden Lake and has 42 full-time employees and 10 part-timers. Riley's salary will be $108,443.

"My agenda is to continue to develop and expand what Chief Marcus has started," Riley said. "I have no plans for immediate change."

On Oct. 4, 1997, Riley was hired at Hayden Lake as a full-time firefighter/EMT, a moment he considers to be one of the "greatest gifts of my life."

He later became fire lieutenant, fire captain, division chief of training, training officer and deputy chief of operations.

The Hayden Lake and Rathdrum fire departments merged into Northern Lakes in 2000.

Marcus has been the fire chief at Northern Lakes for more than eight years. He began volunteering for the former Hayden Lake district in 1992 before working through the ranks of that department and Northern Lakes.