The Olympia City Council took a moment at the start of its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 5, to formally meet and congratulate Interim Olympia Fire Chief Hillory Flowers.
Flowers assumed the interim position after Olympia Fire Chief Matthew Morris retired in March.
Flowers has been with the Olympia Fire Department since April 2025, when she came on as assistant chief of emergency medical services. She assumed the role of deputy chief of operations in November 2025.
Flowers previously spent 19 years in various leadership roles at Lacey Fire District Three.
“We have a wonderful team that serves our community, and the thing I'm most proud about is our mission, which is ‘taking care of people always,’” Flowers said Tuesday, adding that people will hear Flowers and her team repeat that message over and over again. “I believe, as fire chief, my responsibility is to serve those within our organization as well as our community,” she said.
In her time as interim chief, Flowers’ primary focus has been on streamlining operations and ensuring organizational readiness and resilience, according to City Manager Jay Burney.
Flowers is also focusing on staffing and recruitment, and on continuing collaborative efforts in long-term planning and agency development.
“Everywhere Chief Flowers has been, she has excelled,” Burney said during the Olympia City Council meeting on Tuesday. “She is widely respected in the fire service, and we are fortunate to have her here leading the Olympia Fire Department in the role of interim chief.”
The Olympia Fire Department is in the process of selecting a new permanent fire chief, but there is no publicly available timeline for that hiring decision.
