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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2019)
A4 • Friday, March 22, 2019 | Cannon Beach Gazette | CannonBeachGazette.com Views from the Rock Volunteers fight fire for the love of it S teve Moon and Joanne Cremer represent the great spirit of volunteerism in the city of Cannon Beach. They also represent diverse careers and backgrounds, forging a bond as members of the city’s fi re depart- ment community. Cremer, 61, a self-employed landscaper, crafter, lifeguard and athlete, grew up in Portland and moved to Cannon Beach in 1980. Cremer holds certifi cations in fi refi ghter II, apparatus operator, emergency medical responder and water rescue technician. Moon, 48, is a lifelong Cannon Beach resident. He and his fam- ily are part of a family-owned and operated business serving the res- idents of Cannon Beach with tow- ing and light repair services for almost fi ve decades. Each retired from the depart- ment this year. Joanne Cremer and Steve Moon at the Cannon Beach Fire Department. Q: Were you the longest-running members of the fi re department? Cremer: Not the longest, but we’ve been here a long time. I started in 1984. Q: Steve, tell me about your road to fi refi ghting. Moon: I come from three gener- ations of fi re department. I always wanted to get in here; wish I could have gotten here sooner. I was 19 when I joined. My dad said, “Wait till you get out of high school.” When I grad- uated, he said, “When you going to join?” I said. “You tell me.” My brother (Jon) and I joined the same day. Q: What is it that appealed to you about the fi re department? Moon: It’s just everything I was always infatuated with it when I was a kid — anything “fi re,” “res- cue.” I just loved that kind of stuff. Q: Joanne, you were one of the fi rst women on the department? Cremer: It was very unusual at that time to have a lot of women, and it still is. I was trying to think how I could give back to the com- munity and fi refi ghting really piqued my interest. Q: Did you have any training or schooling? Did you serve in the military? Cremer: None. I was young and I thought, “Gee, I’m going to go for it.” I started lifeguarding shortly after I joined the fi re department and was a lifeguard here on the beach for 25 years. That turned into water rescue with the fi re department. Q: When did the seriousness of the job hit you? Cremer: The fi rst fi re. There’s potential you could die. Moon: My very fi rst day, they gave us bunker gear, helmets and we went and burnt a house down. I was running a fi re hose and shov- ing it in a burning building. My eyes were very big on my fi rst day being on the fi re department. It was a practice burn but everything was real. That was it for me. I was hooked. Cremer: Things are a lot dif- ferent now. Now we have a lot of schooling, we continue, when I joined it was maybe the second meeting and you’re driving a fi re truck. Whoa! I’ve got this thing the size of a bus! Moon: Back then your training was through your peers. They were your trainers. You’d learn some- thing. They’d show you how to do it and you’d do it over and over again until you could do it perfect. Now the state controls everything. When we joined, we were hang- ing on the back of the fi re trucks. You throw the strap on and you’re hanging on for dear life. Now you don’t do that anymore. Q: Animal rescue is a big part of the job. Cremer: There have been a few dogs that have gone over the edge. There was one rescued not long ago. Moon: It’s a 50-50. Sometimes they survive, sometimes they go all the way. Always keep your dog on a leash when you’re near a cliff. Dogs don’t have the depth percep- tion that we do. Q: How do you deal with the emotional impact of emergency situations? Moon: You see it all. Everybody gets affected differently. Some- times you can shed it easy and sometimes you don’t. J: We do have counselors avail- able 24-7 if you’re ever in a situa- tion where you think you need that. Q: What are some of your most CANNON SHOTS R.J. MARX memorable moments? Cremer: The old Oswald West log home burned in front of Hay- stack Rock (in 1991). That was the hottest fi re I have ever been on in 35 years as a fi refi ghter. Q: What made it so intense? Cremer: I was driving an old truck that there were three gears and I was positioned a block away, coming down the hill to the fi re. The heat was so intense coming through the windshield it felt like it was burning my face. And that was a block away. Moon: I was the fi rst one to make attack on that and the engi- neer gave me water. I was starting to move in on the structure with the hose and they shut the truck down temporarily to switch over to the fi re hydrant. But they didn’t com- municate that to me, so the hose went dead on me. In just that short moment of not having water pro- tecting me, I got steam burns inside my turnout gear. It was a hot fi re. It was pretty intense. Q: When did tsunami awareness come to the Cannon Beach Fire Department? Moon: Forever! We were the fi rst town in the state, country, to have any tsunami warnings. The council was doing it (tsu- nami prep) when I started, in the old station when it was being built in the early ’90s. Cremer: The old station was across from the tennis courts on Spruce. Now it’s stores. Q: Who were some of your most memorable fi refi ghters?’ Moon: So many cool fi refi ght- ers! Everybody. Cremer: Gary Moon; Cleve Rooper, Frank Swedenborg, Garry Smith — these are guys that were on when when I started. Moon: Mike Moser — Cremer: — Tommy Misner, Peggy Roberti, Diane Shute. Talk about characters! Moon: A lot of characters And they were all really great fi refi ghters. Cremer: And EMTs. Q: What do you see in the young people coming up? Cremer: Some of the young people coming up are working really hard to become good fi re- fi ghters. We do have some really young people which is great. Q: How young do you mean? Cremer: I’d say 19-24, 25. Q: How has fi refi ghting changed since you started? Moon: It’s all the requirements that you have to maintain, it’s not just getting your requirements done, but then maintaining them, doing them over and over and over again. It seems nowadays you’re doing more paperwork and testing than physically going out and train- ing. There’s a clash with what the government wants and the reality, getting to mesh really well together. Cremer: I agree with Steve. We’re being looked at a lot more, whether it’s being scrutinized or making sure things are going a cer- tain way. Moon: If someone gave me a task and said, “You need to learn it really well, instead of leaving me alone and teaching me that, they’re overlooking … stuff you don’t need to know actually.This is what the government wants, but this is what you need to know. It’s not garbage but what you need to know is good to know. But it’s not what you’re going to use too often. Cremer: And insurance and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules) come into play. Q: Do you see local cities turn- ing to more mutual aid? Cremer: It’s the way of the future. We’re already doing a lot of mutual aid. Moon: Most of the time now you go direct (to the scene). Cremer: Sometimes they’ll say, “Stand by at the station.” We’re doing a little bit of work with Til- lamook County because they’re short-handed. Q: Why are you retiring? Cremer: For me it’s just time. I have other things that I’d like to do. I’ve been here 35 years. I could continue. But it’s taking a lot of my time and I can put that time towards other things, like schooling. I’d like to take some classes and it’s so funny because most of the time, the things I want to do are on Wednesday nights. I haven’t taken this retirement lightly at all it’s been very diffi cult. Last Wednes- day was my last drill. Moon: Mine was January 1. It’s the same thing. New policies come into effect that I can’t comply with. My job is kind of like being with the fi re department. I’m on call 24-7, and I have to respond to police calls for car wrecks. I’m still going to the middle-of- the-night calls. Cremer: Sometimes I would go to bed at night and say I’m so tired I hope we don’t get a call tonight. It’s kind of nice not to get a call at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. Once I’m up at that time, forget it, it’s gone. Moon: Same thing. It just comes down to time. When we started, most of the fi refi ghters were busi- ness owners. But the way it is now, I don’t know how you’re going to keep young people here. They’re going to want to move on to their jobs and businesses and schools. I don’t know how they’re going to do it. Q: Would you recommend peo- ple volunteer? Moon: If they have the time to commit to it, absolutely! You’ll never regret it. It’s the best feeling in the world to go out and help the community. Cremer: It is. Going on aid calls, and helping someone. Q: Will you miss the adrenaline rush? Cremer: Sometimes I’ve got- ten the adrenaline rush. But it’s just nice to help someone. Moon: We have been blessed our town is behind us 100 percent for sure. I’m going to miss it. Another take on the iceberg wedge in Cannon Beach A bout a year ago I wrote a column for this newspaper where I mentioned the ice- berg wedge. The iceberg wedge, in case you’re unaware, is a salad made famous after a formerly unexciting lettuce known as “crisp- head” was rechristened the far sex- ier name, “iceberg,” as a rebrand. The lettuce was renamed in hopes it could gain favor as a lettuce that traveled well; it was shipped across the country packed in ice, this being the days before refriger- ated train cars. Appreciated more for durability than taste, the rather bland, some say tasteless, Cali- fornia lettuce soon became a sta- ple in trendy east coast dining rooms. While iceberg wedge salad was widely maligned by many, it gained favor with famed foodie James Beard, a Gearhart native, who was supportive of the dish. A modern wedge salad normally appears plated as wedges of ice- berg lettuce covered with chunks Publisher Kari Borgen Editor R.J. Marx Circulation Manager Jeremy Feldman Production Manager John D. Bruijn Advertising Sales Holly Larkins Staff writer Brenna Visser VIEW FROM THE PORCH EVE MARX of blue cheese, bacon fl akes, diced tomato, and scallion slices. I’ve had it served with hard-boiled egg. I’ve had it served with crou- tons. I’ve seen balsamic vinaigrette fi ll in for blue cheese dressing. To make it seem more substantial and dinner-like, some restaurants offer add-ons like grilled shrimp, grilled chicken, crab cake, even thinly sliced steak. After my piece ran last year, Matt Brown, the mayor of Gear- hart, approached me. “Did you know my favorite salad is the iceberg wedge?” he said. I didn’t. “Have you had the wedge salad in Cannon Beach at The Drift- Contributing writers Joseph Bernt Eve Marx Bob Dietsche Nancy McCarthy Dave Fisher Cara Mico Rita Goldfarb Rain Jordan Eve Marx It’s hard to beat the wedge salad at the Driftwood Restaurant and Lounge in Cannon Beach. wood?” the mayor asked. I hadn’t. “You must try it,” he said. “It’s literally the best version of the salad I’ve had anywhere.” A couple of weeks ago I gave reiki to a friend. Have I mentioned CANNON BEACH GAZETTE The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other week by EO Media Group. 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon 97138 503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738- 9285 CannonBeachgazette.com • email: editor@cannonbeachgazette.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Annually: $40.50 in county, $58.00 in and out of county. Postage Paid at: Cannon Beach, OR 97110 I’m a reiki master? Instead of cash payment, I suggested she take me out to lunch. I already had it in my mind to go to the Driftwood and order their wedge salad. A week or so before our lunch date, I’d been at the Cannon Beach POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cannon Beach Gazette, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Copyright 2019 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. Chamber awards where, if I’m not mistaken, the Driftwood won rec- ognition for their great service. Celebrating 75 years in business, the staff works hard to impress locals and tourists, not an easy task. The Driftwood specializes in steaks and seafood. They serve hal- ibut, Coho salmon, Willapa Bay oysters, fi let mignon, rib eye, and baby back ribs. Among their classic salad offerings are Cobb and Crab Louie. It’s hard to believe anybody goes just for the Wedge salad, but that was my plan. My friend ordered the rib eye steak sandwich served on a grilled rustic roll. It was 6 ounces of aged rib eye, grilled to her liking. The Wedge salad was crisp Iceberg let- tuce, tomatoes, bacon pieces, and crumbled bleu cheese drizzled in a house made bleu cheese dressing. My friend ate half her sandwich and took home the other half. I ate all my salad. But I took this picture fi rst. THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING