Camano Island Fire & Rescue Volunteers Committed To Serving Their Community

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December 2011

The Fire Chief stopped in at the Mabana Station late in the evening this past fall and found three volunteers there, checking on the equipment and listening to the scanner.  He wanted to be the first to share with them what the budget cuts were shaping up to, and how they might be affected.  The decreases in assessed values and cutting the Stanwood services from Camano Island Fire and Rescue's budget were a "big hit", Chief Mike Ganz said.  The volunteers took no time to respond: "What can we do to help, Chief."

On that cool October evening, the spirit of community service was alive and well.  Camano Fire and Rescue counts on that.   According to Assistant Chief Levon Yengoyan, Camano Fire isn't unusual: "Three quarters of this country is protected by volunteer firefighters.  They are the backbone of the nation's fire protection community."

For CIFR Battalion Chief Mike Waite, it's a way of life. He's been a volunteer since he was 18 years old.  Those 30 years of service followed his father's who served as a chief, and his grandfather, who served as a volunteer, as well.

Mike's son, Matt Waite, continues the family tradition.  Matt has been with the department for four years.  "Matt is fourth generation firefighter," his father said.  Firefighting, it appears, is in the blood, whether it's a volunteer or a career firefighter. They are there because they want to be. 

The Mabana Station has other dedicated individuals including Josh Wikstrom who joined the department when he moved to Camano Island five years ago.  Before that he served in the department at Clear Lake, and was in the Army as a paramedic.

Bryce Fazekas, a volunteer Captain at the Mabana Station, said he joined as a young man. "I heard the siren from where I live and I wanted to investigate."  Firefighter DJ Sweet thought back to why he joined.  "Service", he said. It's been 22 years of service for DJ.

For new volunteers, the training is intensive, and begins with a Fire Academy including over 140 hours of fire fighting, hazardous materials, first aid, and CPR.  After their fire training volunteers give another 120 hours to become Emergency Medical Technicians where they learn the life saving medical skills necessary to do their job.

"They give hundreds of hours," said Yengoyan.  "They may be up all night fighting a fire, then get up and go to work at 5:30 in the morning.  I can't stress the level of commitment you see from our volunteers. It's phenomenal that they do it."

But there are rewards, too.  Hands down, across the country, volunteer firefighters note the sense of satisfaction they get from serving their community.  In a recent survey of Camano's own volunteers, "service to the community" was overwhelmingly the primary motivation.

Still, there has been a decline in volunteerism across the nation.  From 1980 to 1983, the number of volunteer firefighters in the United States reached a record high.  CIFR is no exception. The island was served by all volunteers until the district hired its first paid firefighter in 1991.  Now, 35 volunteers work alongside the 50 or so full-time and part-time firefighters.

"You would think with the bad economy we would have more volunteers," said Sweet. "But we dropped down."  Volunteers, said Yengoyan, often have to leave the area to find jobs when the economy is low.  The recession, coupled with the national trend of decreased volunteerism, has hit Camano Island Fire and Rescue's volunteer force.

"It's imperative we rebuild the volunteer program," said Chief Ganz.  "We are committed to providing service as a combination department, volunteer and paid.  They work together well, and are all critical to protecting the citizens of this island."



Author:Camano Island Fire & Rescue Dept. Press Release