It’s been almost a month, but Burlington Fire Chief Levon Yengoyan is still getting his new office set up.
Yengoyan took the reins at the Burlington Fire Department in mid-June, more than a year after the city’s previous full-time chief resigned.
“I wanted the job because of the people I met here,” Yengoyan said. “I was so impressed with what they wanted to do and their goals for the department.” Yengoyan comes to the department after spending nearly two decades with Camano Island Fire and Rescue, where he served as an assistant chief since 2004.
Yengoyan, who attended graduate school at the University of Washington, said he entered the fire service later in life, but is grateful for the opportunities that experience has afforded him.
He began his firefighting career as a volunteer firefighter in the Methow Valley, he said.
“I was just really amazed at what I found, both in the department and in the industry in general,” Yengoyan said. “I always loved the idea of serving and having a positive effect.”