Sometimes the only choice is the best choice.

Such was the case when Skagit County Fire District 13 voters went to the polls in November to choose a successor to J.J. Wilbur, whose candidacy for the La Conner School Board made him ineligible to run for his commissioner seat.

Bobbie Scopa was the lone person to file for the vacancy and so unopposed.

Turns out, the fire district would have been hard pressed to find a more qualified candidate.

Scopa is a retired firefighter who spent more than four decades working for several fire districts as well as the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.

Her last career position was as USFS assistant regional fire director for operations in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon.

“I started in 1974 as a seasonal firefighter while attending college and retired in 2018,” she told the Weekly News. “During those years I held almost every position in the fire service. It was a fun career but I’m thankful the active part is winding down.”

Not that her role came to a screeching halt. Far from it, actually.

Scopa looks forward to serving as a fire commissioner and helping the district meet its various challenges, among them the search for revenue sources necessary to maintain the level of service to which the public has become accustomed.

She is also writing a book, entitled “Both Sides of the Fire Line,” and has launched a popular website, “BobbieOnFire,” a forum in which she shares many of her most memorable moments from 47 years in firefighting.

The website can be downloaded and to date Scopa says her stories have been heard about 600,000 times. Her book is due for release next summer.

Scopa earned university degrees from Arizona State and North Carolina State, entering college in 1973, three years after the initial Earth Day observance, a time of growing public awareness of environmental issues.

“I was already an avid backpacker and lover of God’s Creation – nature,” she recalls. “Going to work for the USFS seemed like a natural progression for me. Fighting fires offered good money for a 19-year-old. It was exciting and back then the fire seasons were much shorter than they are now. It was a great summer job for someone who loved adventure. I thought I would concentrate on natural resource management, but firefighting gets in your blood. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to do both.”

Her academic path ultimately led Scopa to Cogswell College in San Jose, California, where she studied fire administration.

At North Carolina State for graduate school Scopa focused on fire management in areas in which man-made improvements have been built near or within natural terrain and flammable vegetation.

More recently Scopa has divided her time between living on her boat here and wintering in Arizona. While in the La Conner area she has often lent support to the fire district.

“I was asked to help District 13 out,” she says, “and I have great affection for fire departments trying to accomplish great things and provide excellent service to small communities. It’s a huge challenge since the public expects big city service on a shoestring budget. I have specific experience and knowledge that can help.

“Public and firefighter safety,” she says, “is always my highest concern.”

Scopa is looking forward to the focus of public attention returning to those doing the work in the field.

“There’s nothing more to mention about me,” says Scopa. “This is really about the full-time and part-time staff and volunteers at Fire District 13.”