Pendleton’s fire chief looks to the future

By on Friday, December 1st, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

PENDLETON – Pendleton Fire & Ambulance Chief Tony Pierotti has been serving as chief since the first of November. He says he’s still learning the job, but he does have a vision for the future.

He said the department will always be on hand for emergencies, but he hopes it will play a bigger role in preventing some of those emergencies.

“I do believe the fire service will play a bigger part in the community in terms of risk reductions,” he said. “We have a lot of mental health issues going on these days. We also have patients that just have failure to thrive. They don’t have the help they need. I think the fire department will become a big part of connecting the dots.”

He said he expects himself and his staff to be curious and ask questions.

“There’s an underlying culture that has to exist,” he said. “To me, that’s the culture of safety, first of all. Safety brings trust and once you have those two things you have the ability to ask questions freely.”