Previous volunteers return to Seeley Lake Fire Department

SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District recognized their two newest members at their monthly board meeting March 21.  Fire Chief Dave Lane also reported they are gearing up to welcome two new paramedics to the department.

The Fire Department's newest volunteers Mark Kues and Shawn Ellinghouse are both previous members. At the pinning ceremony Lane said, "That is a huge plus for us because [they] can help with training, [they] can fall right into place to what needs to be done and for me, and I think I speak for the board and everyone else, I really appreciate you stepping forward and joining us."

Kues has been a volunteer firefighter for nearly 38 years.  He served in Maryland and Pennsylvania before moving to Montana and joining the Seeley Lake Fire Department where he served for nearly eight years.  

He is currently certified as a structure firefighter FF1 through FF7, wildland firefighter engine boss, hazmat operations, radioactive endorsement, ladder truck operations, pump engineering, shipboard fire fighting. He was also a training officer for Park County Rural and in Paradise Valley.  

"I wanted to help out the community," Kues said. "With 37 years [of experience], why let it go to waste."

Ellinghouse started as a volunteer with the Seeley Lake Fire Department in July 2000. He volunteered for 17 and half a years serving as a lieutenant from 2004 until 2009 when he was promoted to captain.  He is qualified as a FF1 and FF2 structure firefighter and as a single resource wildland firefighter, a Hazmat Tech, and has been an EMT since 2006.

"I want to help friends, family and our community," Ellinghouse said. "We are here to help teach, lead, train and as the Chief said, fall into places that works out for him and go from there."

During the board meeting, Lane said volunteer numbers are up with a roster of 22 volunteers and five members on the Auxiliary. Several volunteers and Auxiliary members are training to become CPR instructors. This will allow the department to offer community CPR classes.  The Department has also been updating equipment and reconfiguring vehicles to support additional paramedics that will be on the department soon. Lane said one of the volunteers-in-training is already a certified paramedic and Captain John Baker will graduate from paramedic school in July.

"We are going to have three paramedics on in short order," said Lane, who is also a paramedic. "We are doing a lot of acquiring [Advanced Life Support (ALS)] equipment, the bags, so we can carry ALS medications and the defibrillators need to be put where they can be used the best. I'm trying to get everything so on day one, when [the new paramedics] come on board, they are ready to go. We are pretty close right now."

Lane said he will provide an overview of the new equipment at the April 18 board meeting, 6 p.m. at the Fire Hall, 200 Firehouse Lane.

For more information about the department and for the monthly Fire Board agenda visit seeleyfire.org.