The head of the City of Kodiak’s Fire Department announced last week that he plans to retire at the end of this year. Fire Chief Frank Dorner has been with the department for roughly 25 years and held the head position since 2022.
During the City Council meeting on Dec. 5, Dorner broke the news of his retirement to the four present council members and Mayor Pat Branson. Annika Woods and Bob Stanford were absent for this meeting.
“I have kind of decided to retire," Dorner said. January 31st will be my last day with the city.”
This was the first time some council members had heard of Dorner’s plans to step down. Although, city staff had already posted the job opening on its website before the end of November on Nov. 25. Applications are being accepted until the end of the year.
The Fire Chief position lists a salary range starting at $4,000, paid biweekly. Duties include running an 18-member department, although there are currently a few vacancies, chairing the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and serving as the local Fire Marshal, among other responsibilities.
Mayor Branson told the Kodiak Daily Mirror that none of the existing staff at the fire department are interested in becoming the next fire chief so the city will likely have to hire from the outside.
Dorner told KMXT that he wanted to attain a certain retirement level with Emergency Services through the state, and now that he has met that goal of 25 years of service he is ready to move on to something new.
He was emotional Thursday night as he briefly described his decades long tenure with the city fire department and the lasting relationships and memories that came with it.
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in 25 years with the City of Kodiak," Dorner told the council. "And the last ten or 15 years here have been a crazy ride, but the support that we’ve had is amazing. The new structure that we have going up for the fire department is amazing and just the support from the community is amazing. Thank you all.”
Dorner will leave his post well before the new city fire station is expected to be complete, towards the end of 2025. Construction on the now roughly $27 million facility has been underway in earnest since this summer. Ground officially broke in May of 2024 and originally included a price tag of just over $24 million but the cost of materials and other estimated costs went up.
*Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include additional comment from Frank Dorner about the reason for his retirement.
