Fourteen years ago in a small town called Dammeron Valley, Utah, a 16 year old starting hanging around the fire station on training nights. Chief Kyle Talbot wasn’t quite sure what to do with this exhuberant young man that wouldn’t go away. After months of putting up with my presence and my yearning to be involved, Chief Talbot gave me a helmet and started the cadet program at the Dammeron Valley Volunteer Fire Department. For 2 years I trained and worked with an amazing group of men and women as we served our small community and fought mostly brush fires and lightning strikes. We didn’t see much action averaging 20 calls per year, but nevertheless the seed was planted. I was the first EMT on that small department and one of the youngest members ever to be welcomed into the brotherhood of firefighting.

Tomorrow I turn in my gear to my new Chief Robert Stoker of the St. George Fire Department as I am relocating my family to a small town in central Utah. This month marks the end of my fifth year with the St. George Fire Department and the end of some of the most fulfilling times of my life.  It seems ironic that three of my best friends from the Dammeron Valley Fire Dept. are now members of the St. George Fire Department. We took this picture to go side by side with one that was taken 13 years ago when the same four firefighters were just starting out. The four of us have come a long way since that time and I am the only one who chose not to pursue firefighting as a career. Many thanks to the good friends and good examples that my brothers on the fire department have been to me. These are memories that will last a lifetime.