Centralia’s new Fire Chief Blake Perez took the oath of office from Centralia City Clerk Kim Enke during ceremonies at Centralia City Hall Monday afternoon.
“It’s a great honor and a great privilege,” Perez said afterward. “I’m excited for what’s to come. We’re going to work together, we’re going to be better, and we’re going to improve the fire department and maintain the great response and great people that we have.”
Perez has been on the Centralia Fire Department since 2006 and was a volunteer fireman at the Centralia Fire Protection District for five years before that where he developed a strong interest in the fire service.
Centralia City Manager Galen Mahle introduced Perez as the new chief.
“We did a large search, and it turned out we had three really great internal candidates, which is a beautiful thing,” Mahle said. “It goes to show that Chief Day, all the chiefs who came before him, and all the people who worked with him in the department spent a lot of time trying to make themselves better in order to serve the city and the residents and do what’s right for our community.”
With Perez now the chief, Andrew Sneddon was sworn in to replace him as Captain. Sneddon is a third-generation firefighter, starting his fire career at Buckner in 1985. He moved to the Benton Fire Department in 1988 and was hired at the Centralia Fire Department in September 2000. Sneddon has completed training programs and is currently the department’s incident safety officer.
The ceremony started with retired chief Jeff Day receiving a plaque for 30 years of service to the City of Centralia.
“I thank the city for giving me the opportunity thirty years ago, and I’d like to thank all who I served with,” Day said. “I’ll miss you guys, but I won’t miss the late-night phone calls, meetings, and paperwork. I look forward to spending time with my grandkids.”
A large number of city firefighters as well as other Centralia officials were in attendance at the ceremony along with family and friends.
Retiring fire chief Jeff Day (left) was presented by Mayor Bryan Kuder (right) with a plaque recognizing thirty years of service with the Centralia Fire Department. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
