Editor’s Note: This is the speech Fire Chief Sarah Hancock didn’t get to give at the Firefighters Appreciation Dinner on March 29, because an emergency call came in just as everyone was finishing dinner, and she and the other firefighters had to leave to answer the call. Former Fire Chief Tim Darland stepped in to cover parts of the speech, tell a little about each of the firefighters, and hand out awards.
Welcome High Prairie friends and neighbors! For those of you who do now know me yet: I am Sarah Hancock, your fire chief.
Before we begin, I’ve received a ton of text messages and emails, so while I have you all in the same room together I have something very important to share. Can anyone guess?
No, I do not know when the Burn Ban will start! It completely depends on the rain, wind, and heat. Mother Nature completely dictates when the Burn Ban will start. Once she gives an idea of drying things out, we Fire Chiefs across the county let the Department of Emergency Management know, and then they take it to the County Commissioners for a vote. I will post on the Facebook Group, our website, and through the email chain as soon as I start getting an idea of when the Burn Ban is coming. I have never let you down and I don’t intend to this year!
Moving on. Raise your hand if this is your first High Prairie appreciation banquet? Keep your hand up if you’re new to High Prairie? Great, we will hand you a volunteer application!
High Prairie, thank you ll from the bottom of my hears and our firefighters’ hearts. We couldn’t be here doing wheat we do without all of you. You simply being here tonight and at the community events supporting the fire department means the world to us! Thank you!
What have we accomplished in this past year?
On top of our full time jobs, we have spent endless hours of training at our department on drill nights and also outside the department. We currently have 3 crew members (Sam, Ken, and Rick) in Structure Fire Academy, which started in February and will end in the middle of April. Sam completed EMT Academy in Spring 2024 and Ken is starting EMT Academy soon. It’s not easy to bring training to rural communities, let alone find the time to attend, but we’re doing it.
We were awarded a grant from FEMA last fall with Lyle Fire for about $250,000 to replace both departments’ 20+ year old self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs) that have come to the end of their service life. This piece of equipment protects our airway when we’re fighting structure and vehicle fires. Our new SCBAs are now in service as of this month.
On top of our training, we responded to about 70 emergency 911 calls, which included medical calls, Motor Vehicle Collision, wildfires in Goldendale, Centerville, Bickleton, Dayton, Dallesport, High Prairie, Glenwood, and Appleton, and a large Structure Fire in Lyle.
We added one new volunteer, Rick Wilson, and one of our volunteers, Jason DeHart, moved away. We have 16 total active volunteer firefighters.
I’ve been a first responder for almost 20 years, and I’ve been involved with several different agencies. I can tell you with absolute confidence: this is the first organization I’ve been with that has a nearly 100% participation rate. That means that if any one of our crew members is available, I know they will most likely show up for a 911 call or training. This is also the first organization I’ve been with where there is very little drama or clashing personalities – we work together very cohesively and we get the job done. We are a family. The amount of empathy and compassion this team has for this community and each other is inspiring. We also have a lot of fun!
High Prairie, you are truly blessed to have the fire crew that you do. I’ve never been more proud and honored to be part of a fire department. It’s not only the type of work we do, it’s the people we get to stand alongside with. It’s always EXTREMELY difficult to create awards for our crew members, because every single person offers something valuable to our department and does it with their whole heart without complaint. We have such a great crew! Each member brings something different regarding life experiences and wisdom to share. It always amazes me that with so many diverse backgrounds we all come together and protect this community as a cohesive team.
Here are the members of the team. More information about each firefighter will be printed in the next High Prairian.
District 14 High Prairie Firefighter Roster
- Fire Chief Sarah Hancock
- Captain and Fire Commissioner Philip Haner
- Captain Dave Thom
- Lieutenant Tim Darland
- Lieutenant Tom McMackin
- Senior Firefighter and Fire Commissioner James Amery
- Senior Firefighter Jim Day
- Senior Firefighter Ron McDonald
- Firefighter-EMT Sam Holman
- Firefighter-Paramedic Gregory Haner
- Firefighter Chris Roper
- Firefighter-EMT Brenda Edin
- Firefighter Ken Hill
- New Recruit Rick Wilson
- New Recruit Edwardo Ornelas
- New Recruit Kristine Austin
- Non-Firefighter Team Members:
- Administrative Assistant Glenna Scott
- Support Volunteer Paul Grim
- Fire Commissioner Bruce Wales