The Lopez Fire and EMS volunteers work hard all year long to create a safe and productive community for Lopez. When a Lopezian dials 911, the Lopez Fire & EMS volunteers are standing by, ready to come to the community’s aid. This year the Lopez volunteers will have given over 7000 hours in donated time, training for and responding to community emergencies. What Lopezians may not know is of all the uncounted hours these women and men contribute to you as volunteers.
This past year the volunteer Emergency Medical Responders and Firefighters took on projects ranging from: fundraising for 10 new Automatic External Defibrillators, repairing weather damage outside fire stations, repairing roof leaks, weeding, repairing radios and tank gauges, decorating fire stations, changing the burn level signs, preparing to teach drills, EMT Classes & Fire Recruit Classes, painting the exercise room, recycling paper and containers, assisting at Tour De Lopez, the Fourth of July Parade & Fireworks Show, the Holiday Lighting Ceremony, raising tents, taking down tents, funding local youth scholarships, teaching first aid classes, helping at Camp Norwester training day, computer maintenance, and installing radios in fire apparatus.
They also took part in repairing light bars, cleaning fire stations, washing fire & aid vehicles, attending meetings and acting as recording secretaries, attending off island training, shuttling vehicles back and forth for tests and service, inventorying equipment, testing and servicing small tools, teaching fire extinguisher classes and fire prevention programs, bicycle safety classes and bike helmet sales and fitting. They also assisted with delivering a safe and sober message to graduating seniors on the dangers of alcohol and driving, and to the School Safety Fair participants. The volunteers never complained about the extra work and performed all of these tasks with excellence in mind.
As your Fire Chief, I work with and see the contributions that these professionals make on the community’s behalf every day and I thank you for taking the time to read this tribute to them. Our lives on Lopez Island are better and safer, thanks to their dedication.
Here are your 2009 Lopez Island Fire & EMS volunteers, who every day do their best for us: Mica Arps, Ken Bair, Larissa Berg, Suzanne Berry, Sarah Brady, Orrin Burt, Rodney Burt, Richard Carter, Kevin Dengler, Kathy Dretske, Jamie Eaton, Rita Elliott, Lilly Ewert, Tom Felber, David Fisher, John Garcia, Geoff Green, Jordan Haber, Jerry Hancock, Larry Harris, Heather Harris, Dean Inman, Doreen Kana, Liz Malinoff, Terry Marshal, Monte Midkiff, Leland Nopson, Rob Nou, Steve Oles, Myles Paige, Caleb Pal, Pam Pauly, Lucas Peralta, Danny Post, Stu Post, Mike Reinmuth, Tommer Roush, David Rypinski, Mike Strom, Richard Tetu, Dick Wilke, and Alex Zoerb.
