PORT TOWNSEND – East Jefferson Fire-Rescue Chief Mike Mingee has resigned to take a job as the fire chief of a department in Santa Barbara County, Calif.
Mingee, 50, will start the new job in January at the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District in January.
His last day on the job in Port Townsend will be Christmas Eve.
Mingee, who was hired in 2004 as the Port Townsend Fire Department chief at a salary of $75,000, in 2005 oversaw the voter-approved merger of Jefferson County Fire Protection District Nos. 1 and 6.
The next year, he assisted in developing a contract between Port Townsend and the merged fire districts known as East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.
The contract provides fire and emergency medical service, including ambulance service for the city.
