Where are you from? I was born in the Bay area, but I grew up in Spokane, Washington. I moved here, sight-unseen, to get a job as a ski instructor at the resort. I lived in my truck for the first week 

What is your role in the department? I am a junior member, so I am a Firefighter/EMT-Intermediate. My role is to shut up and answer directions.

How long have you been a part of JH Fire/EMS? I joined in 2018, so about 4 years now.

What made you want to join JH Fire/EMS? I always wanted to teach WFR (Wilderness First Responder) courses and WEMT (Wilderness EMT) classes and a lot of the organizations that I applied to said something along the lines of, ‘you don’t have enough experience, so you need to go either travel to Haiti and get like a month of hands-on gnar or join a fire department or ski patrol somewhere.’ I joined the Snow King ski patrol 5 years ago, and I met a gal there who used to be a pool staff member with the department, and she suggested that I join. My mom always said “you should join the fire department,” but I never really took her seriously until then.

What are your current certifications? EMT-Intermediate, Structure Fire 2, FFT2 (the basic wildland one), and Hazmat Awareness and Operations.

What are your future goals in the department? I think fairly linearly, I’d like to become a paramedic at some point and an engineer at some point after that, but I definitely want to take it slow, knowing that the faster you climb the ladder the more things you miss along the way. 

I feel like most career staff have some sort of side gig…do you as well? Yeah, so in the winters I am a ski instructor and in the summers I work on art installations and public art maintenance 

What do you do in your free time? I love all the outdoor things: I love to hunt and surf and climb and mountain bike…I play guitar, I love to cook, I like to shoot my bow.

Do you have a favorite part of the job? That it’s so variable every day. It’s different every day, and also I love the face that you get to help people. 

What is the most satisfying or rewarding part? Probably being a part of a team. 

What advice would you give new recruits? It’s a marathon, not a track meet.

What do you wish you had known when starting? Ask lots of questions and be ready to look for help in ways that maybe you expected help to come to you. Don’t expect all the answers to be laid in your lap. 

What is the most valuable trait for someone working with JH Fire/EMS? To be a mindless drone and to be able to follow orders well. I recognize that that’s a challenge for me, it’s really been a struggle for me. It’s important to be someone who has a collaborative mindset but can understand when they need to do what they’re told.

What do you think you bring to the department? A positive, can-do attitude. A gratitude for all that we have as Jacksonites, and a compassion, like a human touch.

Who is your mentor in the department? Chance Abel. He is a badass, he is smart, he is caring, he is… he’s dashingly handsome. 

How does your family deal with volunteering and shift work? It’s mostly good communication so that people can plan accordingly. My wife will use the days that I’m on shift to see her friends and to fill her cup so that we’re using our time wisely so that when I do have time off and we’re able to spend time together we’re able to focus on us instead of life things.