By Ty Walker
The Mountain Times
Jacob Sale loves being a firefighter so much that he works for two fire services. One job isn’t enough for this firefighting emergency medical technician from Boring.
When he’s not pulling a regular full-time shift in central Oregon, he’s busy volunteering at the Hoodland Fire District in Welches.
Sale, 23, joined the ranks of Hoodland volunteers to serve a fire service closer to his home in Boring, where he grew up,“I volunteer up here because I have a lot of time off with my other job,” Sale said. “It just keeps me from going nuts. Otherwise, if I spend four days at home with nothing to do, it’s kind of boring.”
Sale’s interest in firefighting was sparked in 2015 when he was in high school and went through an Explorer firefighting program at another fire department.The Explorer program gives high schoolers an overview of what fire service is all about and teaches them basic firefighting skills.
“It’s a great opportunity for them to explore to see if it’s something they want to do,” Sale said. “It also gives them good skills working with other people and teamwork. They observe to get a taste of firefighting.”
Sale has been involved in fire service in one way or another since his high school days. Before landing a full time gig in central Oregon this past December, the member of Sandy High’s class of 2019 worked as a temporary or part-time firefighter in places like Gladstone, eastern Oregon and Yamhill County.
He has volunteered at Hoodland Fire District for about a year, logging about 24 hours a week.
“I love it,” Sale said. “I really like the guys I work with up here. I enjoy working with the students that come in and the explorers that are coming in as well. When I can I help them out.”
Sale said he is happy to be doing something he’s always wanted to do, in such a competitive field as firefighting.
“I’m happy where I’m at,” Sale said. “I’m happy being a volunteer here and being a career firefighter also.”
During the little spare time that he has when he’s not working at either job, Sale likes to work on his truck.
“I like working on things with my hands,” Sale said. “When I’m at home, I spend most of my time building things or tinkering.”
Sale was on duty the night Hoodland Fire District got the call for the Timberline Lodge three-alarm fire this past April. The quick responsive action by firefighters put out the fire in just under two hours with only minimal damage to the historic building.
“That’s one of those calls that you don’t get very often,” Sale said. “Knowing that it’s a historical landmark, you know you’re going to be under the public’s eye a lot more. There’s that extra pressure of trying to save the lodge for the historic value of it.
“Most of what was going through my mind was prepping myself for the possibilities. What kind of water supply we’d have up there? What kind of hoses we’d have to pull off the rig once we got on scene?”