Former Salkum Fire Chief Phillip McDaniel was terminated for a multitude of factors, including misuse of sick and vacation time, lack of maintenance to fire equipment, lies to officers and an overall inability to perform his job duties, according to documents released Friday from the district’s board of commissioners.

    Also on Friday, McDaniel’s attorney announced that the former chief will sue the district for a “breach of contract.”

    “He is confident that the allegations will all be proven to be untrue and that the evidence will confirm that all times he performed his job in a professional and competent manner,” McDaniel’s attorney Jon Rosen said in a press release.

    Rosen said McDaniel will be pursuing reinstatement of his position, with payment of back wages and attorney’s fees. Rosen will give the commissioners 60 days to resolve the matter, as required by law, according to the release.

    McDaniel was on mandatory administrative leave since early June, and said early this month that he had no idea why. The documents released today were written last September, and commissioner Anne Piper said McDaniel was lying.

    Included in the released documents were McDaniel’s pay ($70,500, including benefits), a list of his alleged performance issues and a performance evaluation. The chief is the only paid position in the volunteer district of Salkum.

    His performance evaluation consisted of nine criteria, including overall quality, job knowledge, initiative, ethics and teamwork. He scored a “1,” denoting consistent failure, on every category except for job knowledge, in which he received a “2.”

    In ethics, for example, they said McDaniel misused “department property, i.e. command car used for personal business, and computer used for personal business.” In addition, they said, sick time and doctor appointments were not accounted for.

    They also said the district is “at risk” because required immunizations have not been administered among many employees at the district.

    McDaniel responded to many of the allegations in February, according to the documents.

    In regards to fire engine maintenance problems, McDaniel stated that the truck “experienced no problems” during training exercises, and that he repaired the truck when problems were discovered. The commissioners disagreed, giving a timeline of repairs and problems arising during real fire calls.

    Commissioners weren’t available for comment on the lawsuit by press time Friday.

    Piper said they are still deciding who will take over the position of chief in McDaniel’s absence. Assistant Chief Dave DeBuhr took over during the leave.

    Andy Campbell: (360) 807-8208