County welcomes new fire warden

Fresh off the road from the West Coast, newly appointed County Fire Warden Charlie Harrison might be new to the area, but he's certainly not new to firefighting.

He has, in fact, been fighting fire since he was an Explorer Scout at the tender age of 14.

"I spent 36 years in the retirement system but I had been a volunteer before I became a paid guy," Harrison says.

Retirement didn't stick – after a three-year vacation, Harrison found himself looking for a new challenge.

"You know, there's a lot to do when you retire, but I retired at 54. I basically had been in fire my whole life so I said, I'm not going to stay in fire – I'm going to go do something else," he laughs.

Fire, however, keeps pulling him back.

"I'd been kind of looking around for a job to get out of Northern California," he says. "The part that wears you out isn't the wildland fire – it's the medical aids and all that kind of stuff. This department doesn't do that, so this was right up my alley."

The role itself appealed to Harrison because, while the climate is similar to the one he's used to, the job promised to keep him interested.

"You get a good variety. Early today I was inside coding receipts and now I'm out here taking stickers off a fire truck," he says.

"That, to me, keeps you engaged. I look forward to the challenges because there's going to be challenges – this is a lot of equipment and it's spread way out, it's not just sitting in fire stations."

The scale of the county will be Harrison's most significant challenge as head of the department.

"This will be the biggest operation that I've ever actually been in charge of. I've been a fire district chief, I was the chief for the Department of Corrections at two prisons – I've been a chief, but not a whole county-wide," he says.

"The complexity is not going to be more than I'm used to, but just how big it is."

Previous County Fire Warden Doug Leis will be staying on for now in a part-time capacity to help Harrison transition into the role and learn the department, the people and the county itself.

"We've got to put a lot of miles in so he can learn the terrain and how you get from one place to another," says Leis.

Back roads, different types of roads and at what times of year certain routes become impassable – it's all part of the training for a fire warden covering a spread-out county.

"So if you see me out in your area looking lost – I might be," Harrison jokes. "Just tell me which way to get back to the main road."

Harrison and Leis will also be spending time getting to know the people of Crook County, particularly the volunteers who run the fire zones and departments and those who will likely be involved in the event of a fire.

"We're always recruiting for volunteers," Harrison makes sure to mention.

This getting-to-know-you process isn't just necessary because Harrison is new to the area – it was also true for Leis, back when he took the reins.

"I was lucky, I knew a lot of the people – but I didn't know all of them. There's a lot of people up north that I'd fought fire with them a little bit here and there, but I didn't spend a lot of time with them until I became fire warden," Leis says.

"I knew the area, I guess that was my advantage, but I didn't know all the area and I drove on some roads that I didn't know existed."

As well as the volunteerism, Harrison will be familiarizing himself with the generosity of the community. Leis says he has been endlessly grateful for the donations made by citizens during his time as fire warden, which have helped keep the county equipped over the years.

Leis was able to debut the county's new dozer at the recent county fair parade, for example; the down payment for this badly needed upgrade came from donations.

"A big portion of the reason we were able to get that was through donations from the people of Crook County," Leis says.

"I actually stopped at the end of the parade route and grabbed the mic out of the gal's hand and said I wanted to thank all the citizens...it's because of you that we got that."

Harrison will also be responsible for training, and will be learning how the close relationship that the county's firefighters enjoy with state and federal fire agencies works.

"We still had the state government and the federal government there, and that part I don't think is going to be as challenging – it's just the way they operate is different," he says.

None of the items on Harrison's list appears to phase him too much; so far, he's been making the most of each learning opportunity.

"Like I said, there's going to be challenges – I'm up for them, and I'm going to take them one at a time," Harrison says. "I've been going to every little fire that I can, just to get out there and interact with people."