Fire chief feared dead in California forest fire

It's not yet known exactly what happened Saturday, when Dan Packer, a Pierce County fire chief, went missing — and is now presumed dead — in a California wildfire. But it's clear Washington state lost someone who was respected throughout the state for his ability to bring people together.

"He's an icon for the Washington state fire service," said Brian Schaeffer, assistant chief for the Spokane Fire Department. "We all looked up to him."

Packer, former head of the Washington Fire Chiefs Association and chief of East Pierce Fire & Rescue, went to Northern California on Friday to supervise a team fighting a fire in Klamath National Forest. On Saturday he went to survey the fire and develop a plan to fight it but never returned, said Davida Carnahan, spokeswoman for Klamath National Forest.

He was the second Washington firefighter to die in the past week. On Friday, 18-year-old Andrew Palmer, a recent graduate of Port Townsend High School, died in his first day on the fire line in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, which adjoins Klamath National Forest. Palmer was reportedly hit by a tree.

Packer, 49, was perhaps best known for successfully merging a number of small fire departments into East Pierce Fire & Rescue. It wasn't easy to convince small cities to give up their independent departments, but he convinced them it would lead to better service.

"He was always very forward-thinking," said Jeff Jensen, a deputy chief in the Tacoma Fire Department and member of the Washington Fire Chiefs Association board.

"He always had service to citizens as his No. 1 issue, and I think that's what's allowed him to bring those organizations together."

Schaeffer said Packer was equally effective bridging the gap between volunteer and career firefighters and between those who work in cities and those who fight wildfires.

"It's not an anomaly, but it's rare to find someone from the west side [of the state] that is involved with wildland firefighting," Schaeffer said. "He's fought fires all over the country, and he's been doing it for a long time."

"I hope we're able to maintain the standards that he had," he added. In the Spokane area, he said, all the fire chiefs are "just collectively devastated. I just can't begin to explain it."

According to a statement released Sunday by Gov. Christine Gregoire, Packer was overrun by the fire after an unexpected shift in the wind. However, Carnahan said that account had not been confirmed.

The intensity of the fire and limited visibility have hampered the ability to recover the body, Carnahan said, but "we believe that victim is probably Daniel Packer."

An accident-investigation team from the U.S. Forest Service is scheduled to arrive today to look into the incident, she said.

Firefighters from across the nation have pitched in to help fight about 2,000 fires in California, many of which were sparked by a lightning storm in late June.

Packer was part of a Washington-based team that's often called to help in a major disaster. He usually was called to help out at least twice a year, said Zane Gibson, a captain with East Pierce Fire & Rescue. Such "incident management" was also something Packer believed was very important, Jensen said.

Packer grew up in Montana and was a bull rider on the rodeo circuit before becoming a firefighter. He worked for the Burien Fire Department, then became fire chief in Bonney Lake in 1995.

While working in Bonney Lake he was instrumental in creating East Pierce Fire & Rescue, which now serves more than 73,000 people in an area that includes Bonney Lake, Sumner, Lake Tapps, the Ridge communities, South Prairie and Wilkeson.

"What Dan Packer has done for firefighting in East Pierce County has saved lives and saved property," said Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow.

Packer left for California on Friday to help fight the Panther Fire in Siskiyou County. The fire, which had burned 250 acres by Sunday, began with a lightning strike last Monday. Packer was to lead a team that was scheduled to take over management of a section of that fire Sunday, Carnahan said.

Packer was one of two firefighters out surveying the fire, she said. The other firefighter was able to walk out, she said, but it's not clear whether they were together.

Packer, from Lake Tapps, is survived by his wife, four daughters and two grandchildren. The Washington Fire Chiefs Association has asked that all fire-station flags be lowered to half-staff until 24 hours after his services, and all fire department badges be shrouded.

Palmer was hired this June as a wildland firefighter for Olympia National Park, according to park staff.

He was part of a four-person crew dispatched Tuesday to the Eagle fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

In honor of Palmer, all flags in National Park Service areas in six Western states will fly at half-staff until further notice, and a fund will be established by the Wildland Firefighter Foundation in his name.

In her statement Sunday, Gregoire expressed her sadness at the loss of both firefighters.

"They gave their lives doing the hard, heroic work of protecting the lives of others," she said.

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com