Longview Fire Battalion Chief Kevin Taylor is retiring and heading to Disneyland.
After 32 years of service — 12 in Longview — Taylor will say goodbye to the Longview Fire Department on Wednesday.
"I'll miss the guys," he said Tuesday. "It's very much a team sport, and we get to work together to make things better in the community."
The 56-year-old battalion chief plans to take a fairytale trip to California with his granddaughter starting Saturday.
"It'll be very exciting to see that through a 5-year-old's eyes," he said.
Taylor has had a number of positions, starting as a firefighter at age 24 with Snohomish County Fire District 11 to battalion chief. He was 18 years old when he began volunteering as a firefighter.
He also worked with Eastside Fire Rescue, the City of Edmonds and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a consultant before he settled in Longview.
Taylor will continue to run his Camas cocktail lounge, the Birch Street Uptown Lounge, which he calls his "artistic outlet." But he said he wants to spend more time with family.
Eventually he said he wants to move back to Seattle, where his daughters and granddaughter live.
"Kevin is one of those employees who truly loves his job," Fire Chief Phil Jurmu said in a press release. "He brought his passion for the fire service to Longview, and performed at a high level."