Eastside Fire & Rescue Fire Marshal Tim Pilling retires

Tim Pilling, Fire Marshal for Eastside Fire & Rescue (EF&R) has decided to retire after working in codes enforcement for the last 23 years. Tim’s officialretirement date is scheduled for March 26, where he will attend his last EF&R staff meeting.

Tim began as a volunteer working in Southern California as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and in search and rescue in the early 1970’s. He became interested in code enforcement in 1987 where he worked in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Tim moved to Washington State in 1991 and started working for the City of Bothell. Three years later, Tim found himself working at the City of Issaquah Building Department. On July 20, 1998, he was hired as the Fire Marshal and Division Chief for the City of Issaquah Fire Department. With the consolidation of several agencies in 1999, Tim became the Assistant Fire Marshal for EF&R.

As the Agency grew, he was promoted to the position of Fire Marshal where his responsibilities focused on inspections, which included engineering and code enforcement, public fire safety education and fire investigation. The fruits of his labor are most evident in the growth of the City of Issaquah and Sammamish where he worked with high profile businesses and family developments: Microsoft, Boeing, Issaquah Highlands, University House, Talus and many other commercial and residential developments.

Although public fire education wasn’t a direct responsibility of his Division, he became interested in helping children and families through the Juvenile Firesetter Program. He discovered that his fire knowledge and investigative skills could help in the interviewing process of this county wide program. He took the formal training as a Juvenile Firesetter Interventionist

three years ago and has been a part in helping the Public Education Division working with parents and guardians who turn to the fire department for assistance when a child either inquisitively or reckless decides to play with fire.

In addition to the role as the EF&R Fire Marshal, he also supervised two Assistant Fire Marshals and a lieutenant in charge of inspections. “Tim’s contributions to the Agency have been many and we truly will miss him, but we wish him well in his new ventures,” says Fire Chief Lee Soptich.

Tim’s personal interests and plans for retirement will take him to Riverside, California where he plans to live with his spouse, Ginny.