EVERETT – A knock on the Everett fire house door turned out to be a Spokane man who traveled 300 miles to show his appreciation to the Brush 1 wildland fire unit that jumped into action in August to help Spokane firefighters battle the Old Trails Fire that was determined to have started by arson.
Spokane resident, Dillon O’Connor, arrived in Everett with a gift of appreciation for three Everett firefighters who were deployed to Spokane in August with Brush 1 and the department who deployed them. O’Connor hand-made four custom leather radio straps, pictured above, for EFD and personally delivered them. The durable, leather straps can be used to sling radio communications devices for firefighters on scene to coordinate with command staff and fellow fighters to coordinate proper fire response.
Rachael Donegan, Everett Fire Department public information officer tells the EverettPost.com, the straps will remain with Brush 1 and will be available for our wildland firefighters to use on future deployments. “When communities are facing devastating wildland fires and need additional resources,” Donegan says, “fire departments from across the state step in to help one another. Our firefighters were proud to respond with Brush 1 and support the Spokane community when they needed help. Dillon’s gesture was unexpected and incredibly thoughtful, and these straps will stay with Brush 1 for years to come, carried by our wildland firefighters as they deploy to help other communities in need.”
O’Connor wrote on his Facebook page, “A huge thank you to the Everett Fire Department for sharing the resources they could spare when we needed it most! It’s only a small gesture of our appreciation, but I could never express my full gratitude for all the departments near and far who came to help our city, and for the firefighters who sacrifice so much every shift to serve their communities. Thank you, with all our hearts!”
On Aug. 1, Everett Fire deployed three wildland firefighters with Brush 1 to assist with the Spokane-area wildfires. The crew returned home Aug. 11 after working on the Old Trails Fire in Spokane.
O’Connor shares his leather work on Instagram at @OConnor.leather
You can read the InciWeb report from August regarding the Spokane area fires at this link.