After more than four decades in the fire service, local Fire Chief Mike Heston has retired from his position at the Pullman Fire Department.
Heston retires after more than 40 years in the fire service. He retired on Feb. 7, the same month he started his career as a firefighter.
“I’d like to retire while I can still enjoy it. We go on a lot of calls where you see these folks working until they can’t enjoy life anymore or their jobs,” Heston said.
Born in Illinois, Heston’s family moved to the northwest in the 1970s. He graduated from Moses Lake High School in 1979.
Growing up, Heston never thought about working in the fire service, though his dad was a volunteer firefighter when Heston was younger. The Moses Lakes fire chief encouraged Heston to be a volunteer firefighter, like his dad.
During his more than 40-year career, much has changed in the field, he said.
Heston said the conversation regarding firefighter’s and paramedic’s health has changed. From physical fitness, firefighters’ cancer risk and mental health, firefighting is not what it used to be 40 years ago.
Following Heston’s retirement, Brett Nash was confirmed as Pullman’s new fire chief. Nash moved from Henderson, Nev., and has been a firefighter and paramedic since 1994.
Heston’s advice to Nash is, “Listen. Listen twice as much as you talk. Learn the system, learn from the troops, learn what the needs are. Obviously, every fire chief is gonna do it differently, so I’m sure there’s some things that can be done differently than how they are being done now. If he’s got new ideas, bring those new ideas. You’ve gotta keep moving forward to stay ahead of the game in this business and fresh ideas are good. Try out some Cougar Gold cheese, Ferdinand’s and enjoy the community.”
Heston said he is bummed that he will not be able to work on finalizing plans for a third fire station in Pullman, but he was excited to work on the project.
Andrew Chiavaras, the assistant fire chief of support services, has worked with Heston for around 20 years. Chiavaras said there are many memorable moments with the fire chief and he values the lessons Heston taught him.
“I can take any problem to him and he would be able to work it out and not get emotional about it and just explain ‘Hey, this is the path forward. Treat people right, do the right thing and you’re gonna be just fine,’” Chiavaras said.
Throughout Heston’s career, he has spent his summers serving on the Northwest Interagency Incident Management team. The fire team of over 50 service members travels across the northwest combating wildland fires, and giving aid for disaster relief across the nation.
In the fall of 1979, Heston attended WSU for two years. He moved back home to Moses Lake in 1981 and pursued his career in fire as a volunteer firefighter. Heston returned to Pullman in 1983 and joined the WSU fire department as a student resident. When the PFD formed, Heston joined in 1996. He held the position of assistant fire chief of operations and training until his appointment as Pullman’s fire chief in 2013.
Heston attained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WSU while he was working for WSU’s fire department from 1991–94. He has a degree in political science with an emphasis on public administration.
Heston’s retirement will not stop him from engaging with the community. Heston will continue his work with the incident management team after he retires. He plans on staying on committees and groups, attending WSU events and teaching incident command.
Heston plans to keep Pullman his home and dedicates his retirement to family and spending time outdoors.
