Where are you from? I grew up in Washington DC and moved out to Jackson full-time 12 years ago, in 2010. I went to college up in Maine, got into skiing there, and then I moved back to DC to work. I was in journalism there and that’s where I met my wife Haley, she actually got into Georgetown then. She graduated there and we were both living in the city: young professionals just working, having fun. I was in a group house, she was in a group house and we were introduced via roommates who were also dating. We started dating and everyone broke up except us, so we decided that would be a good time to leave the city. 

So you took that as a good omen! *Chuckles* Yeah, so she had been wanting to move out somewhere in the West for a while. I was sort of curious to try a different part of the country and so we actually came out, like a lot of folks, for a winter to ski and enjoy. Her folks live here so we stayed with them when we first moved out. I thought we would keep going west; I was in the wine industry at the time, and I thought we would move to Oregon or California or something, and she convinced me to hang around for the summer, to see what it was like. So I did, and I fell even more in love with the area and we have been here ever since.

I hear a lot of people saying they moved here for just one season, and then the follow up question is always ‘oh, which season?’ Because it’s such a common story! Yeah, I feel like if you like winter, and you move here for that season, then summer isn’t that hard of a sell.

Well, that’s why I’m here! 

So, in your words, what would you say is your role in the department? I am part of the volunteer leadership out of Station 1. I think my role with the other volunteer leaders is to help recruit new members to get involved in the department. We also hope to help retain current members and to keep everyone’s skill set and training up to a good level. In a nutshell, I think that’s probably our most critical role. 

How long have you been a part of the department? I actually joined not too long after I moved here. I put my application in in 2012, and I officially joined in 2013, so just about ten years now. One of my good friends that I met out here is someone that Haley grew up with: Sam Zuckerman. He was on the department before me and encouraged me to put my name in.

Besides Sam, were there other motivating factors that made you want to join? Did you have a background in fire or emergency services in general? No, not particularly. I had been looking for something to do with community service in town, so I was looking at a bunch of different things, and Sam brought up the fire department. At the time, it was definitely a burgeoning department, there was a lot of dependence on the volunteer side and not a lot of career staff or pool staff, so it was definitely an all-hands-on-deck attitude then. I looked at it, I was definitely interested, and then 2012 was the big fire, Little Horsethief Fire, so that was one of the first wildfires that I experienced while being in the area. That got me thinking about the fire service and what I could do to help and all the cool opportunities there, so I decided to put my name in. I hadn’t done any sort of emergency management training or anything… I had done boy scouts growing up, but I hadn’t maintained that post-college or anything. I threw my name in, went through the process, and really enjoyed it from there.

What is it that you do for work? I am currently a professional innkeeper. I manage the Inn on the Creek which is a little, eleven room boutique bed and breakfast in town. It’s a family property; my in-laws own it, Haley and I manage it and we’re sort of the jacks of all trades, so we do property management, guest relations, all that kind of stuff. I really enjoy getting to show off the area to folks visiting.

Going back to the department, what are your current certifications? I am an EMT, Firefighter 2, sort of all your other competencies: Redcard FFT2, Hazmat, and then ADO aerial and pumper as well.

What are your future goals in the department? I would say right now, I think my biggest priority is ensuring that we’re growing leadership through the ranks. I would like to see continued growth on that front at the station 1 level, and I would really like to eventually see, maybe not myself specifically, but someone within the Station 1 community move up those ranks. I envision Dan or someone like that moving into those higher-up, maybe even chief-type positions; that would be my hope. I am happy where I am, I would love to see everyone within the Station 1 community growing and finding different leadership responsibilities.

What do you do in your free time? In the winter, I like to downhill ski, I like to cross country ski, I like to fat bike. I get a little less time than I normally have had in the past just with three kids, but I still get out as much as I can. In the summer, I’m very into camping, we try to do big camping trips with the family, and then outside of that I bike and hike and whatnot.

How old are your kids? I have a 7 year old son, he is in first grade now, named Ari. I have a daughter named Eliza who is 4 years old and in her last year of preschool, and then we have a 1 ½ year old daughter named Ayla who is in pre-preschool. It’s definitely a busy time of life, it definitely keeps things interesting!

How do you strike that balance between your obligations to the department and your family? Having your pager on, leaving at any hour of the night, etc. I think the key is having a supportive partner and a supportive household and having a partner who understands that commitment, who understands what that expectation is. I would also say having a support network within the area as well is huge. I’m very fortunate to have my in-laws here so they can lend a hand when needed. That’s very helpful when I’m on a longer call or something like that so they can help with childcare and schoolwork. I would also say the fire community itself; I’m very close with Austin Sessions and his family, for example, because he has kids that are the same age as mine and they’re friends, so we rely on each other a lot too. I’ll watch his kids if he’s on shift and he needs help and he’ll help if I’m doing anything fire-related too. I’d say that the fire family is a big component of it. It’s such a key part of the community: you have to help everybody out so they can do what they need to do.

What would you say is your favorite part of volunteering? I would say two things: I really enjoy the trainings. I love when we have a good training and it’s a great opportunity for everyone to get together and share ideas and share personalities, I like that quite a bit. Number two: probably being able to have that dramatic shift where I’m at work or I’m at home or something and then when a page comes out, you put on your fire hat and you can go help someone in a real time of need. It’s neat to see the immediate effect of doing that, whether it’s a medical call or a fire call, I really have enjoyed that over my history with the department.

Maybe this question is similar to the last, but is there something that’s particularly satisfying or rewarding to you? In my mind, to get back to the original reason I joined, I very much viewed it as a community service, something that I could give back. I didn’t have a ton of money, so I could give my time and lend my abilities to the community. I would say the ability to go on a call and to be able to positively impact a person or a family with the team, that has been very rewarding. It’s extremely rewarding to help someone in a time of need and to see that play out. Being able to be there for someone, even if you can’t do anything, but just to be that shoulder to cry upon or to be there for them is amazing.

On the flip side, what is something you find challenging? When I first joined, it was much more of a combination department, so if a page went out, we weren’t running tandem response. That meant that I was able to go to the station and get on the engine with a couple folks and pretty much be the first on scene. That was a huge way to build up expertise and muscle memory. I think as the department’s grown and things have evolved, the biggest challenge is moving to that shift mentality and moving to, rather than jumping on an apparatus to a call, you really need to sign up and do a shift. Do a 12 hour shift, do a 24. Get those calls. Probably just making that time on a regular basis is the biggest challenge in my mind. 

What advice would you give to new recruits? I would say two things: be a sponge. You are going to get so much information fed to you over the first year or two of your career. Be open to new ideas, be curious, absorb as much information as you can. And then for number two, I would say to question. A lot of folks, once you get out of your probationary period, you’re a little more hesitant to ask questions because you’re sort of expected to know things. When you’re a new recruit, you’re not expected to know anything, so you can really ask any question you want. What is the purpose of whatever technique? Why are we learning that skill? You’ll have a lot of really talented people that will be able to talk you through that and get some good information. Those are the two best pieces of advice I could give someone new.

Similarly, is there anything you wish you had known when you started or anything you would tell your past self now? I would probably say when I first started, to take it slow. I think when everyone first joins, you want to get every cert, you want to go on every call…I learned probably just a couple years in, that you have to pace yourself. Spend the time to grow your expertise and your skill set within the department, but don’t think that you need to do it all within those first couple years. There’s time. I think to be honest, the department is hoping to retain people for many, many years, so it’s helpful to build that over time and build that expertise through calls and through continuing trainings.

What would you say is the most important skill or trait for someone to have in this line of work? First and foremost, I think empathy. Being able to understand that, if it’s a medical call, that you’re there to help someone, we have certain skill sets and we have a team dynamic, so we can all do a lot of different things. I think first and foremost being able to understand that someone is calling us in a time of need. Sometimes to be able to show empathy and care for them while you’re providing whatever services are needed is vastly important. Even on the fire side, I’ve run calls where someone’s home is burning down and you’re working with a crew to do that, and maybe you have a break or a shift in operations or something, you have the homeowner outside watching what’s happening, so being kind and empathetic to that person and sort of understanding what they’re going through and being respectful of that too, so you’re not joking around while someone might be experiencing that situation. I think that’s probably the most important thing. You can really build your skill set in any direction from there. 

What do you think you bring to the department? I would say a team mentality, effort, and good leadership skills. For past jobs and a lot of different positions and careers I’ve had, it’s been sort of team building and making sure people are working in the same direction. I think that’s a key skill set that I bring. I then would also say being a team player; I think being a good leader is understanding that sometimes you need to follow, sometimes you need to work within that team setting and not always being the alpha, just make sure the mission gets accomplished.

Do you have someone in the department who you would consider to be a mentor, or someone you look up to? I would say within the department, I have always admired Chief Moyer. I think he’s a great example of service above self. He started as a volunteer and sort of moved up through the merger of fire and EMS sides of Jackson Hole Fire/EMS, and all the experience he’s had and the ability for him to continue to encourage people to grow within the department. Being a calm and reasoning presence, that’s something I’ve always admired. He’s very straightforward and pragmatic, I really respect that.