SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2017
SIUSLAW VALLEY
FIRE & RESCUE
C
hief Ron Prindel, a pillar of the
Swisshome-Deadwood Fire Department
and the region it serves, as well as a man
whose dedication to community and family cre-
ated a legacy for the District, passed away recent-
ly. If ever an indi-
vidual was destined
to found, build and
sustain a critical,
life-saving coali-
tion, it was Chief
Prindel.
Ron
Prindel’s
passion for keeping
everything
ship-
shape
may
have
B Y P ETE “B OA ” W ARREN
Recruitment & Retention
originated through
Coordinator for SVFR
his tour in the Navy,
which he joined in
1949, serving two years active duty and four
years reserve duty.
While stationed in San Diego, he was rated as
an Engineer on a Naval Destroyer. After leaving
the Navy, he worked in the logging industry and
operated various equipment, such as the
Waggoner Lumber Jack. One day, while moving
giant timbers, his buddy mistakenly parked a bit
too close to logging operations. Sure enough,
Ron’s friend wound up buying a new truck as
N OTES
FROM THE
T
he musical “Annie”
played in Florence recent-
ly and I thought to myself:
Now that we are in weather tran-
sition maybe a better “Annie” hit
song title would be “The sun will
come out…in April?”
The prognostication for the
next five months or so can be
summed up in few words, mostly
with terms like “grey,” “wet,”
“foggy,” “windy,” “stormy,”
“cloudy” and — my favorite
5 B
Remembering SHDW Fire Chief Ron Prindel
Ron pancaked his friend’s Bronco.
Undoubtedly, his heart skipped a beat at that
moment and this incident may have prompted
him to reflect seriously about more efficient
emergency responses.
Ron volunteered as a firefighter for
Swisshome Rural Fire in 1966 and quickly
joined its Board of Directors. In 1968 — yes, a
long time ago — Deadwood was without a fire
department. We’re talking garden hoses and
buckets of water (a bucket brigade) thrown on
fires by neighbors as the only resources avail-
able at the time.
Ron and some others decided it was time to
start a fire department in Deadwood. Along with
some financial support from his aunt, they
secured funding for a fire station. However,
Deadwood did not have the necessary equip-
ment to establish a fire department. So, Ron
worked with the bank and was able to buy two
brand-new 1968 fire engines.
In addition, Ron worked tirelessly on the
department’s equipment to keep it all running
properly. He considered proper maintenance of
fire department engines, pumpers and auxiliary
equipment vital to his department. Trained as a
diesel mechanic, working on fire equipment
came naturally to him.
Interestingly enough, Siuslaw Valley Fire and
S ILTCOOS —
Pacific Northwest meteorologi-
cal term — “icky.”
None of these descriptors fit
where I came from. I was used to
sunny, balmy, mild, tepid, hot,
dry, calm and my favorite non-
PNW term, “boring.”
When the climate is pretty
much low 70s all the time with
the occasional (twice a year if
we’re lucky) light drizzle, it is
easy to get complacent and forget
that other areas of the country are
Get Results...List With Dan.
Dan Gilday
Broker
541 554-1844
North Lane #6200 – Build your
dream home on this hillside half
acre lot, stick built or manufac-
tured. Road frontage, water and
power available, native vegeta-
tion, hemlock, cedar, alder, and
fir trees. Short distance to Sut-
ton Lake and minutes from town.
$14,000. #2582-16289530
1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200
Swisshome/Deadwood Fire Chief
Ron Prindel
Rescue recently trained with Swisshome-
Deadwood Fire and one of those original 1968
fire engines was still in use, with only about
10,000 miles on it!
Ron also continually promoted the concept
that contingency funds be available to fix or
replace needed equipment. To the joy of local
property owners, his actions improved the area’s
fire ratings for property insurance purposes.
Two years after establishing the Swisshome-
Deadwood Fire Department, Ron became its Fire
Chief and stayed in that position for 45 years.
Finally, after five years as a volunteer firefighter
and 45 years as Chief, Ron’s health just didn’t
allow him to continue and he retired. But, he
remained active in his community, helping his
daughters when they went out on medical calls;
he enjoyed driving them to help others in need.
During his twilight years, Chief Prindel, an
active camera buff, added to his collection of
photos. Even so, there are few pictures of him.
He enjoyed travel and hit the road with his wife
on many long trips after retirement.
They traveled in their RV to Alaska a few
times and even took a train back east.
Chief Prindel will be remembered by many in
his community for establishing a department for
the area that remains as strong as ever with more
than 30 current volunteer firefighters.
Many come and go, but Chief Prindel was the
one who was there first — and because of his
efforts, Swisshome-Deadwood has a department
it can be proud of.
Rest in peace to a brother firefighter.
Pete “Boa” Warren can be contacted at 541-
997-3212, or the main SVFR station, 2625
Highway 101, or email Boa@svfr.org.
Wet and wild
not so blessed. It is also easy to
become a weather snob because
turning one’s nose up did not
usually result in a snootful of rain
water.
Trying that here along the
Oregon coast will redefine the
term “post-nasal drip.”
It turns out the coast gets more
rain annually than almost any
other part of Oregon. I live close
to Honeyman State Park, and
checking the stats it says my area
gets more than 70 inches of rain
a year. Doing some quick math,
those 70 inches a year translate to
about a 1⁄2-inch a day during
rainy season. That’s 1/2 an inch a
day every day for more than 5
months.
Toss in storm winds up to 75
mph, rain falling sideways, rain
when it’s sunny (this both scares
and amazes me) and the hail and
snow that Mother Nature on
occasion throws down, and we
have the textbook definition of
“Don’t like the weather? wait
five minutes, it’ll change.”
I discovered that rain, when
properly dispersed, creates the
wonderland that is our backdrop
of lushness. I also discovered
that rain brings out slugs,
nature’s land-based version of
the hagfish.
Thank all that is holy that hag-
fish are not land creatures. One
will produce a bucketful of
mucus in an hour, while our little
gastropod friends leave just a
small yet obvious shiny streak of
phlegm. Snails, slugs and other
creepy/slimy creatures aside,
without the rain here it would be
a desert. I grew up in the desert
and can tell you that I much pre-
fer the electric green of the forest
than the brown and tan of the dry
sands and pointy cactus.
While I do love the isolation
and the miles of nothing the
desert presents and spent many
days of my youth wandering
around the dunes and dry washes
of Joshua Tree, the Mojave and
Anza-Borrego deserts, there is a
very special feeling among the
giants of the forests.
The living bark and branch
crowding out the sun’s rays, dap-
pled and shadowy as the scat-
tered beams stream down to illu-
minate small patches of forest
floor, create a unique experience
specific to the Oregon coast.
We are blessed that the
drenching rains help create the
plethora of flora, from the glori-
ous blooms and blossoms of
spring and summer to the thick
and shaded forests that coat the
coast almost all the way to the
tide line.
The diversity of plantlife in
Oregon is quite impressive.
Ferns of licorice and deer, sedges
both tufted and creeping, flowers
of nodding onion, cow parsnip
and yellow monkeyflower,
crabapple and shore pine trees, as
well as shrubs with weird names
like goatsbeard, devil’s club, kin-
nikinnik and thimbleberry all
reside here.
No, blackberry is not on the
list; it is a non-native plant that
we can blame its import on the
British.
That plus warm beer and an
ostentatious wedding every few
decades.
And what about the wildlife?
They seem to fare well during the
rainy season, finding warm and
dry hiding spots amidst the worst
of the blows. Bear, deer, cougar
and any manner of marsupial or
rodent are abundant. Even snakes
make their home among the sand
valleys and tree roots.
The rains also bring the mush-
B ARRY S OMMER
Special to Siuslaw News
rooms and the pickers, both
wildlife in their own right and an
integral part of the scene when
the rains come.
The remainder of the tourists
can be seen enjoying the last
gasp of the season, alone in the
campground and on the lakes yet
enjoying the solitude that washes
down when the clouds open up.
Yes, I love the rain.
The change from warm, lan-
guid days to the dark and over-
cast skies means another chapter
in the cycle of life is upon us.
Days shorten, the sun hides
and we huddle under our Eddie
Bauer slickers, sucking down
coffee as we do what we do best
during the winter:
Complain about the rain.
PORT HOLE
PUBLISHING
179 Laurel Street, Suite D
FLORENCE
LET US PUBLISH
YOUR BOOK
PORT HOLE BOOKS
77567 Hwy. 101 • GARDINER
NEW-USED-RARE!
WE HAVE IT ALL!
Best-Selling Author, Ellen Traylor, Owner/Publisher
541-999-5725
portholebooks.com • portholepublications.com
DONATE NOW!
Maximize your donation by donating
to Cars for a Cause by Dec. 31st.
We accept cars, trucks, RVs, boats
& motorcycles CALL NOW!
Gift Certifi cates now
available for any ticketed
event at the FEC.
Available in any amount you choose.
Perfect for that
last-minute Christmas
or any occasion gift .
•Helps those in need in Lane County
• Charitable donation
•We do all the paperwork
St. Vincent de Paul
2315 Hwy. 101 • Florence • 541-997-8460
Sotheby’s, eBay Master Dealer
and Appraiser for Discovery.com
Call or come by the Florence
Events Center Box Offi ce to
purchase 541-997-1994
or available online
www.eventcenter.org
Christmas
Gift List
Toys • Books
Clothing
Houseware
Furniture
Gift Certifi cates
St. Vincent DePaul’s
2315 Hwy 101 541-997-8460
Open Daily