Hello, Goodbye - Fairbanks fire chief retires with new chief already on deck

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Not everyone’s definition of retirement is the same. For some, it means restful days chock full of hobbies like painting or baking. For others, it might mean travel, or perhaps a fun, part-time gig.

But for a certain Fairbanks man, “retirement” means continuing to help save lives.

Nearly three decades ago, Scott Raygor joined up to fight fires in the Golden Heart City, rising to earn the title of fire chief, a role he’s claimed for about a year and a half.

With all that experience under his belt, Raygor found that the time for change had arrived. He’s set to wave goodbye to the city department, retire (or so he calls it), and then take over as deputy fire chief at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“So I’ve hit that, my retirement age, so within public safety it’s 25 years for police and fire, so I hit that, and then opportunities came up at other places,” he explained of his decision to retire.

As for what he’ll look back on fondly, Raygor said the comradery of Fairbanks firefighters is near the top of his list.

“Some of the favorite memories are the bonding and familyship that firefighters have within the fire station. The pranks we play on each other, you know, like times we would take saline drips and hang them from the ceiling when people are sleeping. Have water dripping on them all night. Just that bonding,” he recalled.

Following in Raygor’s footsteps at the city, Andrew Coccaro has dropped the word “assistant” from his title and has become the new fire chief at the Fairbanks Fire Department.

He said the transition will be smoother and well thought out because of the hard work of former fire chiefs, including Raygor, who hired Coccaro as assistant fire chief about a year ago.

“I want to make sure we’re cautious and deliberate with any steps and changes that we make, but all in all to make sure that we all move forward as a team with one unit, one vision ... to do what we’re doing now, thanks to Chief Raygor’s leadership and the chiefs before him,” Coccaro said.

As for what those cautious changes might be, the new fire chief believes a focus on crunching numbers is one way forward.

“Now, maybe even more so than ever in the Fairbanks Fire Department, we’re in a good spot to use data and leverage that data to our advantage to help increase or change our services to make it more efficient and more operationally sound,” Coccaro explained.

On Raygor’s end, he believes the City of Fairbanks rests in good hands with Coccaro. The retiring fire chief described how the department went on the hunt for someone with precisely Coccaro’s expertise during the original search for an assistant fire chief.

“He’s super strong in EMS, and I’m not — I’m strong on the fire side. Our EMS division needed some reworking and we specifically looked for his skillset to bring him in to take care of the EMS side of the house, which is 80 percent of our business,” Raygor said.

Coccaro explained that the quick shift from assistant fire chief to fire chief within the short period came as something of a surprise.

Asked how he felt about the new role, Coccaro chuckled. “[It’s] shocking a little bit. I don’t think anyone expected Chief Raygor to step away from the chief position when he did … I’m excited for him for his new opportunity. But a little over a year ago when I applied and became the assistant fire chief, I had no way of thinking or knowing that I’d be standing here newly appointed as the fire chief for Fairbanks Fire Department,” he said.

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