About / History
WEST PEND OREILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT
Serving 110+ square miles from 4 Fire Stations
HOW IT BEGAN
As a lumberyard wheel loader driver for brothers Buck & Wayne Merritt, Les Kokanos enjoyed his job at the mill, along with his work as City Councilman. Founded by Les Kokanos in 1980, West Pend Oreille Fire Department had humble beginnings in the sawmill shop compliments of the Merritt Brothers: Wayne and Buck.
The Governor of Idaho gave them the first Directors because they didn’t have elections at the time. The County Commissioner, Harold Anselmo, asked Les to be Chief. Les told him that he would, but it had to go through Wayne and Buck Merritt because he didn’t want it to interfere with his job. Harold then appointed Les as Chief. From there, the Merritt Brothers made it possible for Les to respond to fire calls without losing any of his wages, which was the only way Les would be able to do both. Les then stepped down from his position on the City Council to take on the position as Chief.
Wayne Merritt was the Assistant Fire Chief for many years. He would come along and look at a truck and say to Les “I don’t like the look of those tires, take it over to the mill and put a new set on.” One evening at a large fire, they took a truck and it froze up a bunch of lines and busted them. Les and Wayne spent all night fixing the frozen lines with the copper and steel from the mill. Les regales the fun that he had doing that. “They were good. I enjoyed everything with it, I enjoyed doing it. That’s where I spent all my excess time. My hours ran from a lot of time. When we tried to put another shift on, there were 12 hours a day with Buck and Wayne. We hired some guys [at the mill] part time and built up to 2 full shifts.”
HOW IT GREW
Les contacted the Los Angeles Fire Department which sent wooden crates full of gear. Les recounts: “We still had those steel bottles for air bottles. You know you had a load on your back when you wore one of them… but those were our first air packs. We still got them, those bottles. We can still use them for hand cutting tools. [sic]”.
The State of Idaho sent West Pend Oreille their first radios. From Les: “A man named Grumm-he was really good. I told him we had no radios and he said we’ll fix that. So we got our first mobile radios, two of them, and two portables. The rest, we had a phone patch. [sic]” A phone patch would call the rest of the volunteers when a call came out.
Through a grant from the Highway Department with the State of Idaho, Les was able to acquire more tools for the department, many of which are still on trucks in service. West Pend Oreille Fire Department would get called to Newport and into Pend Oreille County to assist with accidents because of the tools that Les was able to acquire. Les reports: “Engine 1 was the first truck we bought brand new. Then we bought Engine 6. Then we had enough funds, took out a note at the bank, and bought another new one. You could afford to buy them in them day, you can’t now. The truck that cost us $250,000. today would cost $500,000. That’s why I’ve been picking up all this military stuff up and using it. They’re all in perfect shape. You buy when you can. Then there will be a time you can’t. We bought all new hoses for all the pumpers. That was a big chunk of money.”
Louisiana Pacific donated the red crew cab. They painted it and added the siren and they bought and installed a new winch and bumper on it.
LES KOKANOS GREW WITH IT
Les’ education came from multiple schools including the Community College. “I went to every school that I could go through in those days. A lot of my stuff was done through the Community College. I went to schools during the week down at St. Maries. Everywhere. Figured if I was going to be a Chief I need to know something. [sic]” He and the Assistant Chief of Sandpoint Fire became arson investigators and then started teaching it themselves. A series of arsons were solved after Les and the Fire Chiefs’ Association successfully investigated the crimes. Les had a part in putting the arsonists in jail.
FIRE HITS HOME
A fire erupted at Merritt Brothers Lumber Company, destroying the sawmill Les recalls how everyone put in a tremendous amount of hours in the rebuilding process, and despite everyone telling them they couldn’t do it, they had the new mill up and running in about 6 months. Wayne Merritt gave Les a temporary shop and bay during the rebuild where he stored the first fire truck while they build a new shop on the hill. They persevered and in that temporary shop, across from the office, Les kept the Department running.
STATION #1
61 Airfield Way. Station One for West Pend Oreille Fire was built in 1984.
STATION #2
In 2005, the Mayor of Priest River asked Les if they would absorb Priest River City Fire Department. After a meeting, the vehicle titles were signed over to West Pend Oreille Fire. Les put $25,000 into getting vehicles up to satisfactory levels. Some of the Priest River Firefighters transferred to West Pend Oreille and are still on the department to this day. The Priest River City Fire Department is now West Pend Oreille Station #2 downtown. The building was repainted and equipped and operates a maintenance bay.
Two more stations would later be built including Station #3 off of Old Priest River Road in 2010, and Station #4 in 2018 on Peninsula Road.
TRANSITION
In January of 2021, Chief Les Kokanos stepped down to Deputy Chief, and promoted Jamie Painton to Fire Chief. “There’s a lot to being a Fire Chief now.” Les spoke well of Chief Painton and Fire Marshall Hatfield as well as joked about being the oldest firefighter in the State. “One of the rating bureau guys said there is one older but he doesn’t do anything but stay at the station. I might be the first struck out most of the time. I could get there faster than anyone else got there.” Les continued to respond to fire calls until months before his retirement.
The role of the Fire Chief has expanded since Les first started the Department and now includes road inspections in new subdivisions, building inspections, and continued training.
On October 28th, 2023, Les officially retired from West Pend Oreille Fire. Friends, acquaintances, and coworkers held a party to wish him well, tell stories, and express their appreciation for the 44 years Les Kokanos devoted to West Pend Oreille Fire and his community. Les said the best memory about West Pend Oreille Fire was “just being West Pend Oreille Fire. I enjoyed it.”
ONWARD
West Pend Oreille Fire continues to grow to meet the needs of the community as we start this next chapter. We look forward to writing it with all of you.
OUR GRATITUDE:
Les Kokanos
Wayne and Buck Merritt
Merritt Bros. Lumber Company
Diamond Match Lumber Company
The State of Idaho
City of Priest River
Los Angeles Fire Department
Sandpoint Fire Department
Sagle Fire Department
US Air Force
and everyone who played a part who is not listed above.
Written by: Dani McKenzie
Editing: James and Erin Barnes