06/30/2009: "New Firefighters Join SJI Fire Department"

New San Juan Island Fire Dept. members completed the practical portion of wildland training (see photo below) and an off-road driving course this month. .

Neither of these important events would have been possible without the support of the community.

Roche Harbor Water and Roche Harbor Village generously made their equipment and property available for both the driving class and the live fire training. A special thank you goes to the neighbors and disc golf players that endured the smoke and disruption during the live fire training.

The next opportunity to join the department as a paid on call firefighter will be in September when the structural firefighting class begins. For more information check www.sjifire.org and www.sjifire.blogspot.com

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(New wildland firefighters - other department members: Adam Aley, Elizabeth Arno, Adam Ayers, Jenny Benedict, Herb Mason, Chris Ross, Dave Smith and Noah Waldron. Not pictured are Donald Burpee, Rebekah Dietz, & Assistant Chief Mike Simmerling of Shaw Island Fire.)

Thanks are due to Mike Ahreneius for sharing access to challenging off road driving, and to Will Hamilton and Roche Harbor Highlands for the extra work they put into making their network of roads available.