Jason is moving on

As the members of A Shift already know I have accepted a position with Fort Wainwright FD. I sat down with Chief Willard this morning and notified him of my decision.

I plan on remaining with CGFR as a volunteer for the foreseeable future. The decision to move on was made after a lot of thought and discussion with my wife. I came to the conclusions that while CGFR was the start of my career in emergency services I need to make a change in order to advance my career and do what is best for my family. I have been with the department for almost 12 years now and a little over ten of those were in a career position. This department has given me a wealth of opportunities and many great memories.

Many of you have heard this story but for those of you who have not, while this is embarrassing for me, it often enters my mind. Click on Read More to read the rest of Jason's letter

I had been in the department for less than a year and was at station #2 (being paid for a driver shift) with DC Paulson when we were toned for a structure fire on Ridgecrest Avenue. I jumped into my turnouts and climbed onto Engine 42 and we were off. We got there in less than 3 or 4 minutes and I was packed up when DC Paulson ordered me to pull a tail at the head of the driveway, I could see smoke coming from the area of the house. My blood was pumping and I was so excited. As I exited the engine I wanted to move as fast as I could so that I did not miss anything. After pulling the tail I ran down the driveway to the engine. Paulson told me to pull a line to the garage which I eagerly set about doing (I think I pulled it to the front door first before he yelled at me to take it to the garage). He charged the line and I bled off the air just like I had been taught to do by AC Gilson in my recruit training. It was just me and Brad and I was so amped because I knew that I was going to get to make my first fire attack. He came to the garage and asked me if I was ready then all of a sudden he yelled "WHERE IS YOUR HELMET?" Oh crap, I left it on the engine when I got out to pull the tail. He told me to go get it, I was so mad at myself I was cussing inside my mask the whole time I was running back to the engine because I knew that he was just going to go in and knock the fire down without me. But when I got back he was still kneeling there and he told me to take the nozzle, THE NOZZLE, I was going to be in the lead! We went in and knocked down the fire in the garage and then moved to search the living area until he told me that we had to go back. I argued with him since I had been trained to complete my search before exiting but relented when he said our hose was going to burn and pointed behind us to the garage which had rekindled. So back we went. The fire went out and we mopped up.

I learned a lot that day.

# 1 Never forget your helmet on the engine when you go to a structure fire.

# 2 Always give someone a second chance when they screw up.

And

# 3 Don't argue with your officer when your hose is on fire.

I have seen a lot of things in my career and learned a lot more but there is not a week that goes by that I don't think about my first fire. It is truly my desire to in some way end my career here at CGFR and I hope that as my career winds down that I get the opportunity to return to fill that desire.

I met Angela, the woman of my dreams here.

My very best friends in the world, Casey & Richard have came into my life through the department.

There have been so many special people that have touched my life in a positive way here, some have moved on and some remain. This place and the people who make up the department have been and will always be family to me. I look forward to many more years gaining friends and running calls here at CGFR as a volunteer.

Jason