Meet Your Volunteer Firefighter, Ian Paterson

We hear from Sheila Harley at San Juan Island Fire and Rescue…

Ian Paterson, FF2, WF2, FBOT, Inst.1 – Sheila Harley photo

Ian started fighting fires when he was 18 years old and still in high school! He has been on the Island for 15 years. Ian was born in Long Beach, California then lived in Big Bear, also in California, before moving to San Juan Island in 1997.

At the time his family was living here. He was 14 years old when he moved up and attended all of his high school years at Friday Harbor High School. When he was a senior in high school, he volunteered for the Town of Friday Harbor Fire Department and at age 18 he was excited to join a hose team on a car fire. He has really great memories of being a kid doing fire fighting and making some really good friends in the process.

After high school, he attended Western Washington University for a year. When he got home from attending college, Ian decided to rejoin the fire department, only this time he joined the District Fire Department. So, when the two departments merged, he got to help train those firefighters who made the switch from town to district.

Ian is a Firefighter 2, Instructor I, Wildland Firefighter 2, and FBOT ( fire boat crew member). He also has a regional certification for Safety Officer. He has attended The National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland several times, and closer to home, he has been to North Bend Fire Training Academy (hands on training for firefighters in Washington and surrounding area) close to a dozen times helping with the training of new recruits. Ian has also taken several classes on vehicle extraction and stabilization. His next goals are to get an airport fire fighting certification and play more of a command role in general.

In 2011 Ian was Rookie Firefighter of the Year, and two years later in 2013 he was the Firefighter of the Year. He has been named Firefighter of the month numerous times.

Ian has been vice president and is now president of the Fire Fighters Association. He has been a Firewise specialist for 4 years, worked with Firewise for a while, and director of it for 10 months. Firewise is the extension of the fire department that helps insure the environmental safety of individual communities. Ian has been involved with Fire Prevention Week at the Elementary school, helps with the Easter Egg Hunt, and the volunteers at the County Fair.

He has a great sense of community service and feels he should give time as a community member. (His brother, Cameron, and his grandfather, Bill, were also firefighters) Ian uses much of his free time to benefit our community. In his other life, he works at Herb’s Tavern and The Rumor Mill.

Ian wishes more people would join the San Juan Island Fire department. He has a great time being a fire fighter and enjoys everything that goes with it.

San Juan Island Fire & Rescue welcomes all interested men and women ages 16 years and above to drop by the Mullis Street Station and make an appointment to learn what we are all about. We offer some fun ancillary positions as well. Look on-line at www.sjifire.org for lots of good information. Or, you could view our Facebook page: San Juan Island Fire & Rescue. Our phone # is (360) 378-5334. We would be pleased to talk with you.

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