COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • B7
Hermiston Fire launches video series online
Videos highlight
fire operations
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff Writer
Hermiston Fire & Emer-
gency Services wants you
to know what they do — 50
seconds at a time.
The organization recent-
ly launched a web series
focused on the staff, ac-
tions, and experiences of
Hermiston ¿re¿ghters and
paramedics. The ¿rst video
introduces host Josh Smith
and the idea; the second
talks about a ¿re¿ghter¶s
work schedule, and the
third demonstrates ¿re-
¿ghter turn-out gear. Each
is about one minute long.
“We show up when
people need something,
but they don¶t really know
what we do,” Chief Scott
Stanton said. “This gives
people an idea. These guys
are out there every day.”
The ¿rst video was up-
loaded to Facebook on
Feb. 22 and has more than
2,400 views. The success
surprised not only Stan-
ton, but Smith, the video¶s
host and director.
“, didn¶t think anyone
outside of the ¿re de-
partment would watch it,
much less like it, but ,¶ve
been getting people from
Portland, Hermiston, peo-
ple ,¶ve never met sharing
it,” he said.
Smith, a ¿re¿ghter
paramedic, has been with
Hermiston Fire and Emer-
gency Services for seven
years. Smith said the idea
for the series came from a
brainstorming session for
Umatilla Fire District 1,
the proposed consolida-
tion of the ¿re districts for
Hermiston and Stan¿eld.
“We identi¿ed informa-
tion as one of the prima-
ry reasons this failed last
time, so we were brain-
storming ideas about how
to get the information
out,” Smith said. “After
the ¿rst episode, we saw
it as a tool for more than
just reformation. We can
use this to show people
what it is we do, to answer
questions, and to make
sure people know we¶re
real people.”
What started as a pro-
posal for a 40-second
commercial about the ref-
ormation transformed into
an ongoing web series
providing snippets and in-
formation about the life of
a ¿re¿ghter. So far, Smith
has ¿lmed each episode
STAFF PHOTO BY JENNIFER COLTON
STAFF PHOTO BY JENNIFER COLTON
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with his Go-Pro camera.
The ¿rst video — 41 sec-
onds long — took 3 1/2
hours to complete, partial-
ly because it was Smith¶s
¿rst time on the camera
and partially because he
was still hammering out
the details of the new ven-
ture.
Smith has already start-
ed ¿lming videos that tour
the station and explain
different equipment. He
plans to shoot some video
out on calls as well, but,
so far, his shifts have been
too busy with response
calls to take the extra time
to ¿lm.
“, don¶t want it to get
boring and mundane of
me just sitting at a desk,”
Smith said. “I wanted to
get some action shots yes-
terday, but we were too
busy. I got some of Code
3 driving from behind
the dashboard, but that¶s
about it.”
The district hopes to
upload a video about twice
a week and will continue
as long as there is commu-
nity interest — regardless
of the results of the May
election.
“We started the series
speci¿cally for the vote,
but my goal isn¶t to ¿lm
the reformation, it¶s about
getting people talking,”
he said. “If people have
questions or comments,
post those on the video,
and then I will address
them. As long as people
are interested, we¶ll keep
going.”
To view the videos,
visit the Hermiston Fire
and Emergency Services¶
Facebook page.
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Department
raised $19,000
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff Writer
It takes Àoors of
stairs and 1,356 steps
in full ¿re¿ghting gear
to reach the observation
deck of the Columbia
Center in downtown Se-
attle, the second highest
building west of the Mis-
sissippi.
Despite the climb,
nine Hermiston ¿re¿ght-
ers made the trek for a
good cause this week-
end.
The Scott Fire¿ghter
Stairclimb supports The
Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society, raising money
through sponsorships, in-
dividual and department
fundraising and entry
fees. Fire¿ghters — in
full turnout gear — race
to the top of the build-
ing, and Hermiston Fire
and Emergency Services
again sent a team to the
fundraising challenge.
Fire¿ghters are timed
for how long it takes to
climb all 6 Àoors in full
gear. Hermiston¶s times
this year were:
Destry Stewart- 17:26
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Dennis McClure- 22:07
Corey Gorham- 26:44
Ed Clark- 27:06
Jesse Brown- 27:44
Mike Bozeman-32:02
Jesse Reagan- 38:51
Daniel Hinton- 35:26
Mathew Hodge- 43:00
Hermiston Fire¶s team
raised a total of $19,005
this year.
“I¶m proud of the ef-
forts of those guys that
do this year in and year
out. I did it last year, and
I know how hard it is,”
Hermiston Fire Chief
Scott Stanton said Mon-
day. “It¶s for a great cause
and they do a great job
representing Hermiston
in Seattle.”
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