MOSES LAKE — A 33-year era ended as Moses Lake Fire Chief Brett Bastian retired Friday. His tenure as firefighter and then chief was celebrated at a small party at the Moses Lake Civic Center. 

“Chief’s first day of work was April 20, 1992,” said MLFD CARES Coordinator Heather Kok. “The population of Moses Lake at that time was about 12,000 people. Today we're at 25,000, roughly. The jurisdiction for the Moses Lake Fire Department was nine square miles. Today it is 23-ish square miles … They had 14 career firefighters, which is roughly the amount of firefighters that we have on an average day today. The number of apparatus that they had at the time was one engine, one wildland truck (and) a command vehicle that was shared ... Today we have five engines, two ladders, three wildland vehicles, two tenders and a handful of special technology vehicles. And a lot of that has been done in the last five years. So congratulations, Chief. That’s a huge win for our crew.” 

Bastian started with the Moses Lake Fire Department as a fire inspector following a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, he said. He was made acting chief in 2015 and took the reins as chief the following year. 

Bastian’s interest in putting out fires came to him early, he said. 

“When I was in fourth grade I lived in Huntington, West Virginia, and they had a school fire program that was put on by the Huntington Fire Department,” he said. “That was my first exposure to the fire service. I kind of forgot about it for a while. But then what I did in the Marine Corps, you had to have a certain amount of firefighter training, because I dealt with aviation ordinance. So I got back into it from there.”

The city council chambers were lined with firefighters past and present to say goodbye to Bastian, who had been with the department longer than all but one person in the department. 

“We’ll call it 99.9% turnover,” he said.  

Moses Lake Police Chief David Sands, who started with the MLPD about the same time Bastian came to Moses Lake, recounted memories of driving into the police station and seeing the firefighters at the fire station next door playing pickleball in the bays and razzed Bastian in the police-firefighter rivalry tradition. 

“We have a special award for you in recognition of your 33 years of dedicated service as a second responder for the city of Moses Lake,” Sands said. “The Moses Lake police department offers our profound appreciation … We, the first responders, have created a new recognition to be awarded to second responders that have performed exceptionally over an entire career. You are the first recipient. Therefore, on behalf of Moses Lake Police Department, I award you the Order of the Barcalounger.” 

Bastian leaves office pleased with what he’s accomplished, he said. Under his leadership the department has built two new stations and is poised to begin a third. 

“I did a six-year plan when I became chief, and I was lucky enough to have a council and city manager that supported me and got literally everything on that list done, except for building that station. I had a goal to add staffing; we were successful in doing that. I had a goal to refurbish the fleet and move it into the next century, and we did that. I had a goal to improve our survey and rating rate, and that happened. So by and large, I think the only thing that really was outstanding on that list was to get a third station built, and we're on the way to that.” 

    Moses Lake Police Chief David Sands, right, banters with outgoing Fire Chief Brett Bastian at Bastian’s retirement party Friday. “When I get an extra little jab in … it's always been in fun,” Sands said. “When it comes down to it, we'd stand side by side and fight the same fight.”
  

    Firefighters past and present, joined by other city of Moses Lake staff, gather at the Moses Lake Civic Center to honor MLFD Chief Brett Bastian at his retirement Friday.