Gwen Berry
(back, left to right) Chief Tim Darland, Fred Henchell, Jake Jakabosky, Dave Thom, (front, left to right) Tom McMackin, Ron McDonald and James Amery. Photo: Gwen Berry.
Seriously— what would we do without these dedicated people? Who’d be there to put out a chimney fire, keep a wildfire from threatening homes, respond when there’s a car accident, or come and provide medical assistance when someone can’t breathe in the middle of the night? It’s easy to take for granted that someone will be there when you need them, but it isn’t automatic. A Fire District requires organization and money, a fire hall, fire trucks, firefighting gear, and training programs—but it would all be pointless without the individual men and women who volunteer their time and energy to keep us safe.
Local volunteer firefighters received some well-deserved recognition recently, at the annual Lyle and High Prairie Firefighter Appreciation Dinner. Held at the High Prairie Community Center on March 5th, it was an opportunity for Fire Chiefs Dave McCune (Lyle) and Tim Darland (High Prairie), firefighters’ families, and enthusiastic community members to come together to honor and thank the firefighters for their service.
The Community Center was dressed for the occasion, with strings of lights over the tables and bright, fire-themed centerpieces. The crowd enjoyed a wonderful dinner of lasagne, salad and breadsticks catered by Beneventi’s (generously provided by the Lyle Fire District). Dessert was chocolate cupcakes with flame toppers, which were brought to the tables in fire hydrant cupcake stands. HPCC provided the decorating, dessert, and people to serve the dinner.
After dinner, Lyle’s Fire Chief, Dave McCune, and High Prairie’s Fire Chief, Tim Darland, presented awards to those firefighters whose contributions merited special attention. The awards presented to High Prairie firefighters were:
James Amery – Commissioner of the Year: Not only a longtime High Prairie firefighter (19 years), but also Chair of the High Prairie Fire Commissioners for the second year running. In 2015 he made 22 emergency calls out of 100 and attended 26 out of 50 drill/maintenance activities.
Ron McDonald – Rookie of the Year (voted by members): Became an active member in 2015. Made 11 emergency calls out of 100 and attended 32 out of 50 drill/maintenance activities.
Dave Thom – Night Owl Award: Made the highest number of emergency calls between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., totaling 17 nighttime responses.
Jake Jakabosky – Chief’s Award, for Outstanding Commitment to our Customers in 2015: Continuously represented the HPFD, at HPCC meetings and writing FireLines articles, with the utmost professionalism. He made 37 emergency calls, 11 of which were between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and attended 27 out of 50 drill/maintenance activities.
Tom McMackin – Chief’s Award, for Dedicated Service and Commitment to Excellence: He made the highest emergency call volume, totaling 58 out of 100 responses. Attended 37 out of 50 drill/maintenance activities. In addition, he mentors less experienced staff, increasing the readiness of the HPFD to any emergency.
Dave Thom – Firefighter of the Year (voted by members): In recognition of exceptional leadership and dedicated service. Made the second highest emergency call volume at 55 responses. Amazingly, he attended 45 out of 50 drill/maintenance activities. He makes himself an integral part of the team by peer teaching throughout the year.
Fred Henchell – Lifetime Firefighter Award: Presented to Firefighter/EMT Fred Henchell in honor of his retirement from the High Prairie Fire District with 16 years of dedicated service to Klickitat County and its citizens. In addition to the award, the High Prairie firefighters presented Fred with a lock blade knife decorated with horse-drawn and modern fire trucks, recalling that Fred was the person you went to if you needed to cut something—he always had a knife whenever one was needed.