JONATHAN DUARTE
By Peter McKernan, Kyle Hauducoeur and Dan Nelson
BJ MYERS
Robert “BJ” Myers is an engineer at Station 319 in Division
3, located at the Southern California Logistics Airport
(SCLA) in Victorville. An ARFF certified firefighter for many
years, BJ was assigned to B shift at Station 319 in June of
this year, tasked with coordinating the training requirements
for Station 319 and County Fire’s ARFF program.
Jonathan Duarte is a firefighter/paramedic in Division 2 assigned to
Hesperia’s Station 304. Jonathan started his career in 1999 with the U.S.
Forest Service, with stints at Sycamore Station 32, the Del Rosa Hotshots
and the Heavy Helitanker at San Bernardino National Forest Helitanker Base.
In addition, between 2001-03 Jonathan was working part time at Twentynine
Palms as a reserve firefighter, eventually hiring on with County Fire as a limited
term firefighter in 2005. In 2007 he was hired full-time, serving in numerous
fire stations throughout the department. An EMT since 1998, John earned his
paramedic license in 2007, also completing an associate degree in fire technology. A Hazmat
specialist, he also serves in the department’s honor guard. He resides in Running Springs.
MATT ANDERSON
Serving as the ARFF training coordinator is no small job.
The coordinator must ensure that ARFF certified members maintain their
training requirements in order for SCLA to maintain its airport index with the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), allowing the airport to serve its mission,
especially as a military transport hub.
Son, friend, father, neighbor, husband, captain, mentor and leader are titles
our employee spotlight is known to answer to. Hired by County Fire in 2002,
currently assigned to 77A and a resident of Yucaipa, Captain Matt Anderson
serves Fontana on one of two truck companies within the city. He and his wife
Carrie have two children: nine year-old Carter and six year-old Grace.
In addition to providing continuing education training to ARFF personnel
through our Target Solutions online program, BJ also oversees and provides
training for County Fire personnel who want to be certified to work at Station
319. This training includes airport familiarization, aircraft familiarization
and ARFF apparatus driver/operator certification. Engineer Myers has also
completed training to become a signatory for SCLA and FAA background
process. As a signatory, BJ can submit completed fire personnel background
paperwork to SCLA which enables them to issue the security badges required
to work at SCLA.
Matt recently attended County Fire’s strategic planning meeting, as
department leaders met in Lake Arrowhead to discuss the future of County
Fire. The details of the meeting will be published soon.
BJ has worked hard to simplify the sign-off process to work at Station 319. He
has created “sign-off packets,” giving candidates a road map that simplifies
the ARFF process. Gone are the days of confusing run arounds and fiery hoop
jumping to get qualified to work at SCLA. If you are interested in becoming
ARFF certified or have any questions regarding SBCoFD’s ARFF program,
please contact BJ Myers via email or phone call to Station 319.
No doubt Matt’s attendance was in-part related to his monumental effort organizing the
production of a video series detailing County Fire’s basic firefighter skills standards. This
project came about years ago after cadets from Tower 1, freshly indoctrinated with standardized
training, were tasked with disseminating the training to their crews. Matt’s solution? Produce
a DVD video detailing the new standards and issue it to every County Fire employee. The DVD
release coordinated with the Tower 1 candidate’s arrival at their probationary assignments. The
script for the video sequences became the basis for skills score sheets.
Since promoting to engineer, then captain, Matt has continued teaching at the tower and
mentoring prospective engineers. He operated a daily blog for its followers to complete
hydraulic problems, watch educational videos and share potential oral questions. An important
message for his mentees and students is: failure is and should be an option when you train.
When asked what, aside from money and staffing, is the greatest challenge facing County
Fire, Matt states, “Development of a focus on the future. Our increase in personnel and
establishment of multiple new programs will make it difficult to focus on where we want to go.”
CHRIS LARRISON
Recently promoted to engineer, Chris Larrison currently
works in Division 3 at Station 4 in Helendale. Including
service as a paid-call firefighter, Chris has been with
SBCoFD for 11 years, the past eight full-time. Chris lives
in Apply Valley with his wife Kristi, son Cash and daughter
Elle. Chris contributes to the department by serving as an
Image Trend super-user; in addition, he helps in multiple
roles with the tower cadre, and also applies his computer
skills to help with development of electronic manuals and reference material
for cadet and probationary study material.
DAVE FALLER
An engineer since 2013, Dave Faller is currently assigned
to Joshua Tree Station 36 in Division 5. Hired full-time in
June 2007, Dave has assisted with multiple department
programs, including major involvement improving engineer
development, having established a website with extensive
reference material for promotional candidates or anyone
looking to improve skills. He has also assisted with the
staffing team and the department-wide staffing document.
Dave is the Division 5 Christmas toy drive coordinator, and is a part of both the
RIC and tower cadres. He resides in Yucca Valley with his wife and two children.
SPENCER BRUMBAUGH
Firefighter/Paramedic Spencer Brumbaugh is assigned