In mid May, Northshore fire chief Jim Torpin and the board of fire commissioners entered into a “mutually beneficial” severance agreement that gives way to an early retirement, according to department officials.
Deputy chief Eric Magnuson said while Torpin was past the minimum retirement age, he had previously vocalized a plan to stay longer. No further reason was given for his early departure, but Magnuson hinted that there were some “interpersonal things between the commissioners and himself.”
For more than 26 years, Torpin served the communities of Kenmore and Lake Forest Park. He began as a firefighter in 1993, according to a release from the department. His last day will be May 31. Now that Torpin is leaving, Magnuson said things remain up in the air and that “anything’s a possibility.”