“A retired insurance executive and veteran volunteer firefighter will be the Bainbridge Fire Department’s interim operations chief for the next 90 to 120 days.Ken Beach will be the department’s temporary second-in-command, replacing Kirk Stickels, who retired at the end of last month to move to Alaska.He is a senior leader in the department, executive director Ken Guy said of Beach. He is not a candidate for the permanent job, which we made clear was a requirement for the interim position.When Stickels announced his resignation, Guy said, the board of fire commissioners looked at the departmental structure to see if a change was warranted. After studying the department, the board reaffirmed the existing arrangement under which Guy has overall charge of all department operations, and reports directly to the Commissioners.The operations chief is in charge of firefighting and rescue operations at all three stations, but is not responsible for financial matters or office personnel.Beach has been with the Bainbridge department off and on since 1958. Most recently, as a volunteer, he worked on the disaster-management program.During the arctic blast of 1990, when we had a lot of snow and people lost electricity, they came into stations and said ‘we are without food, water and heat. What are you going to do?’As a partial response, the department assembled what they call 72-hour emergency kits – packs of food, water, matches and blankets designed to get the user through three days. They range in size from one-person kits designed for children up to four-person kits designed for adults, and cost between $18 and $158.Guy said the operations-chief job will be advertised during April. Interviewing should begin in May, with the final selection in June. “