Retired Richland fire chief needed a job and found a calling. He’s died at 78
Retired Richland Fire Chief Craig Williamson died May 14. He was 78.
Williamson spent 30 years with the department, serving as chief for the last five years. He retired in 1999 at the age of 51.
It was an auspicious end for a career that started almost on a whim, according to a Tri-City Herald feature published the day Williamson retired.
He grew up in Everett, a promising football payer. His gridiron dreams were sidelined when he broke his leg during practice in his senior year.
After a stint in the service, Williamson came to Richland with friends. He knew little to nothing about the world of first responders, but he needed a job.
He applied to both the fire and police departments.
“I didn’t care. I wanted a job. What I ended up with is a career,” he told the Herald.
He remembered his initial job interview with a mix of chagrin and humor.
He’d told interviewers he dreamed of becoming fire chief someday, not because he harbored any thoughts along those lines but because he thought that’s what they wanted to hear.
He reported to work with long hair and youthful sense of invincibility.
On the job, he fell in love with the profession and made it his focus.
He would rise through the ranks, taking on ever more responsibility as training officer and fire marshal.
When Chief Bob Panuccion left to become Oregon’s state fire marshal, he encouraged Williamson to apply for the job.
He got it.
Five years later, reflecting on his time in the top spot, Williamson said he was proud of training programs that had been improved and efforts to procure new equipment.
He lived in West Richland after he retired.
The Neptune Society in Kennewick is handling his arrangements. Services have not been announced.