It’s more than a month after election day, and one of the races for east Pierce Fire Commissioner is still too close to call.

The race between incumbent Ed Egan and challenger Pat McElligott is within the margin for a mandatory hand recount, with Egan leading by just 22 votes with all ballots counted.

A hand recount is automatically triggered when totals are within 0.25 percent of each other. Egan and McElligott are separated by just 0.123 percent.

The recount was set to begin at 9 a.m. today, Monday, and will continue from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day this week with a recount certification set for 2 p.m. Friday.

Egan, 68, lives in Edgewood and was a member of the Edgewood Fire Commission when it became part of East Pierce. He has been a commissioner since 2002. Egan was a safety manager with Weyerhaeuser before his retirement.

McElligott, 56, is from Orting. He currently works as a fire captain in the Tacoma Fire Department and sits on the Department of Retirement’s advisory board and serves as chairman for the Washington State Investment Board.

Fire commissioners perform important duties in the management of a fire district. They set policy for the department, hire the fire chief and are responsible for budgets, professional audits and authorizing levy requests of the public they serve.

The East Pierce fire commissioners meet at 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month at the East Pierce headquarters station, 18421 Old Buckley Highway. Meetings are open to the public.