The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, July 21, 2017, WEEKEND EDITION, Image 2

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The daily Astorian., July 21, 2017, WEEKEND EDITION, Page 2A, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017 For this ﬁ reﬁ ghter, the accent is on service Pioneer ends career amid statewide praise By PATRICK WEBB For EO Media Group ILWACO, Wash. — Agnes Waliser didn’t set out to be a pioneering female ﬁ reﬁ ghter. She had a different career path in mind. Growing up in Switzerland, Waliser watched ocean scien- tist Jacques Cousteau on TV and dreamed of strapping on her scuba tanks and diving with dolphins. Instead, Waliser is about to retire after a career as a profes- sional ﬁ reﬁ ghter on the Long Beach Peninsula. But before she does, she will be honored this weekend at the American Legion state convention in Kennewick as Washington’s Fireﬁ ghter of the Year. “I know I was kind of a pioneer,” she said, noting that fewer than 1 in 10 ﬁ reﬁ ghters nationally are women. Patrick Webb/For EO Media Group Agnes Waliser enjoys a quiet moment at home in Ilwaco, Wash., with her dogs, Lola and Tommy. The profession- al lifesaver from Pacific County Fire District No. 1 will be honored by the American Legion at the weekend as the state Firefighter of the Year. in Lausanne, on the banks of scenic Lake Geneva. After earning a degree in zoology at her hometown university, and qualifying as a scuba -div- ing instructor, Waliser wanted to research the intelligence of dolphins. She began that path with an internship at the Uni- versity of Hawaii and later studied killer whales in the San Juan Islands. Life took a different direc- tion when she met and married a man from Ocean Park. Becoming a volunteer ﬁ re- ﬁ ghter with Paciﬁ c County Proving herself Waliser’s parents were Hun- garian artists who ﬂ ed to Swit- zerland when Russian tanks rolled into Budapest in 1956. She grew up ﬁ rst speak- ing Hungarian, then French District 1 seemed natural, working with the peninsula surf rescue team to use her scuba training and strengths as a competitive swimmer. She was the ﬁ rst female in Paciﬁ c County to become a certiﬁ ed ﬁ reﬁ ghter with the state. Adding to her experience and training with emergency medical technician and other credentials, Waliser was hired as a paid ﬁ reﬁ ghter in 2001. “We had female volunteers, but I was the ﬁ rst paid female ﬁ reﬁ ghter with the district,” she said. FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TONIGHT SATURDAY 70 55 Pleasant with some clouds, then sunshine Partly sunny; breezy in the afternoon ALMANAC First Full July 30 Salem 59/92 Newport 52/66 Coos Bay 54/71 Last Aug 7 Aug 14 John Day 54/93 La Grande 55/91 Baker 47/88 Ontario 63/97 Bend 52/92 Lakeview 50/92 Ashland 58/99 Source: Jim Todd, OMSI TOMORROW'S TIDES Astoria / Port Docks Time 7:32 a.m. 7:20 p.m. Low -1.7 ft. 1.9 ft. Today Lo 47 52 54 53 59 49 60 58 52 54 W s s pc s pc s s s pc pc Hi 88 92 73 91 69 93 100 90 66 69 Sat. Lo W 49 s 58 s 58 pc 59 s 57 s 54 s 66 s 60 s 52 s 56 s City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Springfi eld Vancouver Yakima Hi 77 88 83 87 85 69 81 84 82 89 Today Lo 57 59 62 57 59 58 59 54 60 61 W s s s s s pc pc s s s Hi 81 94 89 95 92 72 88 91 88 96 Sat. Lo W 57 pc 65 s 63 s 65 s 62 s 57 s 64 s 61 s 62 s 66 s TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER NATIONAL CITIES W s s t t pc pc t pc pc t s s pc s t s t pc s pc pc pc pc pc pc Sat. Hi Lo 93 75 88 66 88 72 80 59 95 72 86 70 86 71 75 60 88 76 91 76 98 73 107 87 86 66 97 78 91 79 96 78 89 76 90 74 101 75 93 76 105 78 97 73 75 56 80 61 97 79 Role model Away from the job, Wal- iser has continued her pas- sion for working with animals at the Wildlife Center of the Northwest in Astoria. She and its late founder, Sharnelle Fee, The Daily Astorian Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017 Hi 84 86 65 85 67 86 93 83 63 67 Excitement But back pain and sleep deprivation issues from 24-hour shifts helped Waliser make the decision to retire. “I will miss it. I can still ﬁ ght ﬁ re, but I am not as fast as I was,” she said. “It’s getting harder for me to do the physi- cal part.” Shift rotations mean repeated 24-hour stints then four days off. Crew mem- bers sleep during part of their shifts at the ﬁ re station so they are available to respond immediately. “I don’t recover as fast as I did 20 years ago,” she said. “And even if we don’t have a call, you sleep with one eye open and one ear up. You have to be ready when the bell goes off. “You have to be 100 per- cent ready — physically and mentally. You have to be on top of your game. Physically there is no chance to warm up your muscles.” But Waliser, 51, has enjoyed these challenges “I have loved the job,” she said. “I have enjoyed going to calls. Every one is a little dif- ferent. You have to think on your feet — quickly ﬁ gure things out. There’s a puzzle to solve quickly, so it doesn’t get worse.” “You can’t pass the buck to someone else. You are 911 — you have to cope. You are ‘it.’ There’s deﬁ nitely excite- ment in successfully ﬁ guring out how to resolve the problem and make it better. “You can’t save everyone, but we certainly try. You have to put your heads together and ﬁ gure it out. That is the very rewarding part of it.” shared many adventures, and she serves on its board. After a divorce, Waliser remarried in 2011. She met her husband, Mark, through a shared interest in golf; they also encountered each other when her ambulance brought patients into Ocean Beach Hospital in Ilwaco where he worked as an emergency room doctor. This weekend’s awards event will be her second time attending the Ameri- can Legion convention. Wal- iser represented her District 1 colleague Joyce Tuerck, who died in 2015 one month before she could receive the Legion’s state EMT honor. She acknowledged that the awards generally highlight community service — going beyond the job. That was reﬂ ected in Dis- trict 1 Fire Chief Jacob Brund- age’s recommendation letter for the local Legion award in November. “Whether it is ran- dom acts of kindness, or help- ing out a co-worker in need, Agnes is there to help,” he wrote. Waliser noted she has fed patients’ cats when they are in the hospital, and joined with colleagues to purchase and deliver Christmas groceries for people they have aided. “It’s the right thing to do,” she said. “We can’t help every- body, but if there’s a way I can do a little extra, I will.” That, and a positive dispo- sition are key. “Most people on the peninsula have been awesome, but some people still come in and ask the guy ﬁ reﬁ ghter their question, even though I am the captain,” she laughed. She’s a willing role model, having spoken on a panel at Clatsop Community College about women in leadership roles. She relishes the chance to put on her uniform and drive the ﬁ re truck to schools during the annual Fire Preven- tion Week. “I tell little girls, ‘You can do this, too. If that’s the career you want, everything is possible. “‘Yes, you can do it!’” Stop! In the name of walkers Klamath Falls 49/93 REGIONAL CITIES City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newberg Newport North Bend Working smart Gender has never been her biggest issue. Instead, she said, it is her voice. She has encoun- tered numerous medical patients who could not imme- diately understand her ques- tions — spoken in English, but in her noticeable Swiss-French accent. She said that some- times co-workers have had to “translate.” Her successor as captain, Matt Beaulaurier, said under- standing Waliser has never been a problem for those on her crew. “We are used to her accent — we don’t even pay attention to that, although sometimes when we are deal- ing with older folks who hear too well, we have to help.” At 6-3, Beaulaurier offers a contrasting build to Waliser, but he said there have never been any questions about her effectiveness. “Being shorter in stature, she is the type to ﬁ nd a way to work smarter, not harder,” he said. He is full of praise for the manner in which she has made their job-swap a smooth tran- sition. “She has helped me out in ‘passing the torch,’ so to speak. She has been so good to work for. She is someone who always puts others ﬁ rst.” Burns 48/91 Roseburg 57/95 Brookings 53/75 Tonight's Sky: The bright star Capella of Auriga will emerge from the northeast around midnight. Today Hi Lo 95 75 92 71 87 73 90 63 100 80 91 71 86 70 71 51 88 77 91 76 97 80 104 83 85 66 98 79 91 79 97 78 93 77 92 75 101 76 95 76 104 83 94 72 70 54 76 61 96 80 Prineville 49/94 Lebanon 55/91 Medford 60/100 UNDER THE SKY City Atlanta Boston Chicago Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Honolulu Indianapolis Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Memphis Miami Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadelphia St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC Mainly cloudy Pendleton 59/94 The Dalles 65/97 Portland 62/89 Eugene 53/91 Sunset tonight ........................... 8:58 p.m. Sunrise Saturday ........................ 5:46 a.m. Moonrise today ........................... 4:00 a.m. Moonset today ........................... 7:28 p.m. High 9.5 ft. 7.6 ft. 68 55 Partly sunny Tillamook 54/74 SUN AND MOON Time 12:21 a.m. 1:51 p.m. 70 55 Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs. ASTORIA 57/72 Precipitation Thursday .......................................... 0.08" Month to date ................................... 0.10" Normal month to date ....................... 0.75" Year to date .................................... 49.67" Normal year to date ........................ 36.66" July 23 TUESDAY REGIONAL WEATHER Astoria through Thursday. Temperatures High/low ....................................... 67°/54° Normal high/low ........................... 68°/54° Record high ............................ 86° in 1946 Record low ............................. 41° in 1930 New MONDAY 72 57 57 Mainly clear SUNDAY “I spent a lot of time trying to prove myself. I was female; I am not as strong as the guys — I never will be. But I felt I was ‘one of the guys’ fairly quickly.” In 2007, after consider- able competitive testing, Wal- iser was promoted to captain. She supervised a crew of four split between the Ocean Park and Seaview ﬁ re stations. She earned her certiﬁ cation as a ﬁ re ofﬁ cer in 2014. Last month, she relin- quished that role and returned to ﬁ reﬁ ghter rank to ensure a seamless transition when she retires in early September. “I wasn’t a bossy captain, it was all collaborative,” she said. “The welfare of my crew has always come ﬁ rst. I was the ‘softer’ captain, not one of those ‘ Type A’ guys.’” She laughed. “They say ‘Agnes is everybody’s mom.’ I tend to be a ‘mother hen.’ I’m 10 to 15 years older, some- times 20 years older, than some of them.” Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W pc pc t t pc t t pc pc t pc s pc t t t t t s t s s pc pc t Astoria Police will keep a careful eye Monday on drivers who don’t obey pedestrian safety laws. Extra ofﬁ cers will be on duty to act as pedestri- ans crossing both marked and unmarked crosswalks. Drivers who don’t stop or pass another vehicle that does stop may face a $260 ﬁ ne. Other trafﬁ c viola- tions will be enforced in this period, as well. The program is funded through a grant from Ore- gon Impact, a nonproﬁ t group that aims to curb trafﬁ c deaths. The Daily Astorian/File Photo Chris McNeary, now a sergeant, walks with German shepherd McKinley and points out a car that failed to yield to him while using the crosswalk on Sixth Street and Marine Drive in 2011. Meet with City Councilor Brownson Saturday The Daily Astorian Astoria City Councilor Tom Brownson is holding a “Meet Your Councilor” event at 9 a.m. Sat- urday at Three Cups Coffee House, under the bridge at 279 W. Marine Drive. LOTTERIES DEATH Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. July 15, 2017 MELSON, Marlin, 58, of Astoria, died in Asto- ria. His family and friends will gather on Sunday for a memorial at the South Jetty. Contact the family for details. PUBLIC MEETINGS NEWPORT H2 ؏SHITAKE/BROWN SUGAR؏ FRIDAY Oregon Recreation Trails Advisory Council, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Holiday Inn Express, 204 West Marine Drive. OREGON Thursday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 1-7-8-2 4 p.m.: 4-4-5-4 7 p.m.: 3-0-3-7 10 p.m.: 2-8-3-5 WASHINGTON Thursday’s Daily Game: 6-9-6 Thursday’s Keno: 06-08-11-17-19-20-21- 24-27-28-30-31-34-40-43-53-54-74-77-80 Thursday’s Match 4: 09-15-18-23 MEN’S SIZES 8.5-12, 13, 14 (While they last) The Daily Astorian Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503- 325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 Follow us on REGULAR $ 100 NOW 80 $ ASTORIA: 239 14th Street • (503) 325-3972 • www.gimresshoesastoria.com www.dailyastorian.com MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper. SUBSCRIBER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. 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