PORT TOWNSEND — The East Jefferson Fire-Rescue board may select a fire chief finalist today, the board’s chairman said Tuesday night.

“We’ll have a good idea if we have a candidate by the end of [today’s] process,” said Rich Stapf Jr., East Jefferson Fire-Rescue board chairman.

If the board chooses one candidate after the four finalists, it will begin contract negotiations that could lead to hiring, Stapf said.

The finalists for the position, which has been vacant since January, met the public Tuesday night at Fire Station 1-5 on Critter Lane, south of Port Townsend.

Stapf said he did not think it would take a year to hire a new chief, but added, “We’re prepared to stick with this process as long as it takes to get the right fit.”

The candidates will take part in a full day of interviews today.

They will meet with members of local law enforcement, Jefferson County government, the city of Port Townsend, and fire district staff members.

The candidates are:

• Merlin Halverson, fire chief and CEO of the Snohomish County Fire District, a district of high-density residential, industrial manufacturing and rural forested lands on 72 square miles, and a population of 15,000.

He has been a professional firefighter for 36 years and fire chief since 1998.

• Andrew Hail, Redmond Fire Department deputy chief, started with the department in 1979 as a firefighter.

He also has experience with the city of Bellevue as an emergency communications dispatcher, and in the Air Force/California Air National Guards.

• Paul Stewart comes from Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue, where he has worked from 1980 to the present.

He began his career as a volunteer firefighter and now is division chief.

• Charles “Chuck” Tandy has been the fire chief in the Washington City, Utah, Department of Public Safety department since June 2006.

He has 28 years of professional experience, he said, including 17 years in progressive management and administrative positions that required quick decision-making, problem resolution, leadership and tactful public relations.

This is the second time the district has introduced a group of finalists to the public.

In May, four candidates were brought up for interviews, but no one was offered the position.

The district — which serves Port Townsend, Cape George, Chimacum, Irondale, Kala Point, Marrowstone Island and Port Hadlock — has been without a permanent chief since former Chief Mike Mingee left in January for a position as the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District chief in Santa Barbara County, Calif.

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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com