Kalispell Fire Chief Dan Diehl is resigning his position to take a job in Oklahoma. Diehl, who took over as chief in 2008, is scheduled to have his last day on the Kalispell Fire Department on July 16.
His new position will be as deputy chief for the Will Rodgers World Airport Fire Department in Oklahoma City. He described the job as working under the fire chief, with the assistant chiefs who manage each individual shift.
Saying he was “pretty excited,” Diehl described the decision as based on a desire to be closer to the area where his wife is from.
“It was an opportunity for us to go down there and be closer to her family,” he said.
Operation Chief Dave Dedman will take over as interim chief for Kalispell, and it will be up to City Manager Jane Howington how to organize the department following Diehl’s departure, he said, along with whether and when to conduct a search for a new chief.
Diehl added that he believes his biggest accomplishment has been his work toward establishing better relations, based on mutual aid agreements, with neighboring fire departments, and he hopes those relationships continue to improve.