The Daily Courier is reporting that Central Yavapai Fire District Chief Paul Nies may lose his job. The newspaper said Chief Nies believes that his firing by the district’s Board of Directors may be inevitable.
Yavapai County is very large and includes Prescott, Arizona, as well as Yarnell and the site of the Yarnell Hill Fire which killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots on June 30. The Hotshot crew was part of the Prescott Fire Department.
Two other fire chiefs in the area are also gone or will be soon. Dan Fraijo, Chief of the Prescott Fire Department, is being forced out of his job by the City Manager.
Jim Koile, Chief of the Yarnell Fire Department announced his resignation October 8, two years after being selected for the position. He had been criticized for not spending a $15,000 grant in 2012 for removing flammable vegetation around homes in the community. And a few days before his resignation it was revealed that in 1974 he was convicted of manslaughter in the death of a 3-year old girl.
The Yarnell Hill Fire was initially evaluated by the Yarnell Hill Fire department but the suppression of the fire was the responsibility of the Arizona State Forestry Division.
