Jay Hagen is an outdoorsman.  

Before falling, coincidentally, into what would be his lifelong career fighting fires, Hagen thought forestry would be his calling.   

“When I was a much younger guy, I was really into wilderness camping,” he said. 

He enrolled in the University of Montana in 1982 but soon discovered that forestry was not as much outside exploring as it was hard science.   

“I mistakenly thought that being a forester would be like being a professional camper,” Hagen laughed. 

But it was living in Missoula where he came across a new opportunity.  

While working as a bus driver to help pay for school, he was chatting with a coworker who was quitting his resident firefighter job. Hagen remembered being told: “You should put on a necktie and go down and talk to Chief Gibson and see about getting that job.”  

And so, Hagen did, and it was his first experience in emergency services. 

“I never thought as a little kid I wanted to do it. I didn’t have any relatives in the service. I literally stumbled into it,” Hagen said.   

Flash-forward 30 years, and the 61-year-old originally from Twin Cities, Minnesota, is taking over as Kalispell Fire Chief, replacing retired Chief Dan Pearce. Hagen assumed the position today, May 5. 

Because it was in Missoula where his firefighting career ignited, returning to Montana is somewhat of a homecoming. 

Much of his career has been in Seattle, where he found himself unexpectedly while working on an air ambulance for the Missoula Community Hospital.  

Hagen was helping transport a burned veteran from California to Harborview Medical Center, which looks out over downtown Seattle and Puget Sound. He ended up having an extended stay in the city and watching the fireboat, named Chief Seattle, bobbing in the harbor, and saw the historic Pioneer Square.  

The trip inspired a move to Seattle, beginning his career with the metropolitan's fire department.  Hagen dipped his toes in a variety of positions at the robust Fire Department while working his way up the ranks. He spent some time as a hazardous material permit inspector, a training instructor, but “was drawn to that right front seat,” which is where the team leader sits, he said. 

After earning assistant chief, Hagen took his first chief position at the Bellevue Fire Department in 2018. Bellevue lies within the Seattle area on the east side of Lake Washington.   

Hagen described Bellevue as a rapidly growing city with an influx of jobs and housing developments. And in a growing city, he had to build the fire department along with it.  

Hagen oversaw the creation of a new battalion unit and water rescue team, and construction of a new fire station is also finishing up.  

“I’m very experienced in capital development projects like new fire stations, training facilities,” he said. 

Similarly, the Kalispell Fire Department is undergoing a revamp itself. Approved by voters in March 2024, a public safety levy expected to raise $4.6 million in its first year is bolstering Fire Department staff and equipment, including a planned new fire station on the west side of town. 

Hagen is still familiarizing himself with the levy but intends to follow through on City Hall’s plans for its firefighting force. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves,” he said.  

“My understanding is that the community is taxing themselves to get some really sorely needed improvements, and some enhancements to public safety. And I want to take the hand-off from Chief Pierce and start delivering on those expectations and getting the community the benefits they’re going to get,” Hagen said. 

Hagen is also familiar with working with neighboring jurisdictions that rely on each other to respond to calls, which Kalispell also does.  

Hagen spearheaded several programs during his time in Bellevue, including the Community Crisis Assistance Team, which consists of specially trained police officers paired with mental health professionals working in the fire department. Five teams of two peruse the community from early morning to late into the night.  

Hagen recalled earlier in April when the team successfully de-escalated a situation involving a person in a behavioral health crisis wielding a weapon.   

“Instead of it ending poorly, we were able to engage that individual and work with him to admit that he was in trouble and he needed help. And he laid down his weapon and we took him to the hospital,” Hagen said.  

He also developed a data-driven system to inform capital improvement decisions based upon transportation and development projects to determine how to keep pace with growth.  

About five years ago, Hagen found some property in the Bigfork area and started building a home. Much of his wife’s extended family live in the Flathead Valley, so settling in Kalispell was always the end game.  

Flying between Seattle and Kalispell over the winter, Hagen was able to squeeze in 10 days of skiing at Whitefish Mountain Resort and made time for a ski trip in Japan with some friends.  

But as the weather warms, he looks forward to golfing and paddleboarding with his wife. He also wants to get started on a garden. “I’m a big salsa garden guy,” he said. 

Hagen is also energized to get to know Kalispell.  

“I’m grateful to have this opportunity. I feel like I can make a significant contribution here in this community.”    

Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].