Whitefish Fire Chief Joe Page is retiring this summer after a little over 10-and-a-half years working in the city’s fire department.
The fire chief’s last day will be July 5, and his departure will set off a recruitment and hiring process, including an internal and external advertising, that without any delays could take roughly eight weeks to complete.
Page’s retirement was on the agenda of an April meeting of the Whitefish Fire Department’s Strategic Planning Committee, and the fire chief also informed the Whitefish City Council of his retirement plans during a budget work session earlier this week.
“We celebrate his time with us and appreciate his years of service, and wish him all the best in his future, and hope he gets to enjoy, and relax in his retirement,” Whitefish Human Resources Director Sherri Baccaro said Friday.
Page began working for the City of Whitefish in January of 2013, when he started out as the city’s fire marshal and assistant fire chief. In September 2014 he moved into the interim fire chief role, before becoming the city’s fire chief about a year later. Page has been involved in firefighting since at least the 1990s, having spent time in fire departments in New York and New Hampshire, before joining the Elk Creek Fire Protection District in Conifer, Colorado in 2004.
Between Page’s departure, and an official hire to replace him, assistant chief and fire marshal Travis Tveidt will be the city’s acting fire chief.