The City of Redmond is extending the nation-wide application process in its search for the new fire chief, according to Redmond Mayor John Marchione.

The original plan was to have the new fire chief in place by the start of next year. But on Tuesday, the mayor said the city did not find a “good fit” from a pool of 80 nationwide applicants, pushing the new start time for the fire chief to next June.

“Good people applied, it just wasn’t a good fit between the applicants and the city,” Marchione said. “We are going to go back out again and see if we can write our criteria a little clearer.”

The mayor said he is looking for a candidate who has a strong skill set in both fire operations and community building.

“It’s a rare combination to find, but worth taking the time to find,” he said.

The city will “fine tune” the job description and then send out a new nationwide advertisement in December or early January. The pool of candidates will be narrowed down to five or less in April with the new fire chief in place by June, Marchione said.

Just like the search for Redmond’s recently hired police chief, Ron Gibson, who came from Colorado, the search for the new fire chief is a national search, conducted by the city’s Human Resources Department, rather than an outside consulting firm.

Marchione said the in-house selection process is more cost-effective and allows the city to take more ownership of its selection.

Tim Fuller, who has served as Redmond’s fire chief since 2005 and most recently as the interim police chief, originally announced he would help Redmond with the recruitment and transition process for the new chief before retiring at the end of this year. But Marchione said he is going to talk to Fuller about extending his Redmond tenure as the city continues its search for his replacement.

“If he allows an extension, I’ll take it,” Marchione said. “We’ve been very fortunate to have Chief Fuller. He has skills in many aspects of fire operation and has the leadership skill to work with the community.”