HERO of the Week: Mercer Island Fire Chief Chris Tubbs

Looking through the eyes of Mercer Island’s Fire Chief Chris Tubbs and chatting with him, you can clearly see the glow he has for his family, firefighting and the communities he serves in and with.

“My family is the important thing to me.”  He beams with pride and joy.  At 51, Chief Tubbs has many things to be thankful for such as  family being at the top of the list.  Married to his beautiful wife, Kristi, they have three grown children,  Lindsey, 26; Rachel, 23, a Dental Assistant and Zach, 21, deployed as a Marine in Afghanistan.  He boasts wtih a certain glow when he mentions his first grandson, Mason. 

Members of his extended family are all involved in all aspects of Public Safety, either with various Police or Fire Departments. 

As a Senior at Mercer Island High School, he credits many in his life peaking his interest in firefighting.  One of his high school classes assigned him a writing project.  He wrote about Mark Anderson, a Mercer Island Volunteer Firefighter.  He sat down with Firefighter Anderson learning everything about the profession.  Elizabeth Eddie (Retired SPD Officer) asked him the question if he ever thought of being a Volunteer Firefighter encouraging him to put in an application.  He also has grown up with others, such as his Uncle whom has worked as a Los Angeles Fire Department Firefighter (LAFD) who also helped introduce him into what firefighting was all about.

The Volunteer Firefighters program was terminated in 2004.

He remembers his first introduction to firefighting in how two planes collided over Mercer Island and his dream of becoming a professional soon followed.  “I feel very blessed getting into the Fire Service.” He adds.

What is the most meaningful thing in his career as a Professional Firefighter now turned Chief?  He shares an emotional story in 2001, when a “Bounce Dive” almost turned tragic for his diving partner, Marty Crosby (Police Officer/Diver).  As they were descending downard off the buoy line to perform a Confidence Dive things were fine, but going back up to the surface was another story.  Marty began to ascend back up too rapidly becoming a handful for Tubbs to control while trying to hold on to the line.  As they pulled Marty out of the water, he had serious medical issues.  He and his partner were transported to HMC for a medical eval.  They were not required to visit the chamber and were released that day. 

Tubbs was honored in 2001, the “Most Distinguished Medal of Valor”, a prestigious award.  In addition that touched his heart were his diving partner’s two daughters presenting him with a special plaque with the words, “Thank you for saving our Daddy.”  Wow, that was a tear jerker just listening to the heartfelt live-saving story.

He is heavily involved with many Organizations and Associations, such as Treasurer for the King County Fire Chiefs Assocation; Representative with the USAR Policy Board; Member of the International Fire Chiefs Association and Alumni of the IAFF.  He has also been involved with the Urban Search and Rescue/FEMA for the last 19 years with responding to Oklahoma City and Katrina incidents.  Chief Tubbs has been a Dive Leader for the last 15 years.

Though Chief Tubbs may run a very small Fire Department with approximately (28) Operational Firefighters and (3) Personnel that include a Chief, Deputy Chief and Administrative Assistant, they are one busy little Agency.  Mercer Island Fire has a large presence in their local Community by participating in many activities such as Seafair involving their local Police Department; Summer Celebration/Street Fair; Public Safety Day; Annual Chili Feed at Christmastime and involved in the Kiwanis Fireworks Display and Fundraiser.

The two-fire stations that inhabit the island have a combined 2,200 calls annually which is a good number for a small department.  The island’s current population is host to new families moving in.  At the time of our interview, a presentation was going to the Island’s Council about placing a bond request in November in hopes of replacing their oldest Station #92.  The station was built originally in 1962 and is having some structural concerns.  If this was approved by the City, then it would be complete new construction on the  current site with firefighters being moved to temporary quarters.

Firefighters train very hard so that they can be the very best at what they do.  For the last 18 months, Mercer Island Fire has been participating in the East Metro Training Group also known as “EMTG”.  The EMTG consists of Fire Departments in Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, Northshore and Mercer Island.

Headquarters was built in 1999 and currently is housing Chief’s buggy, Rescue 91, Aid 91 and 93, 2 Midis and a shared engine that belongs to Eastside Fire & Rescue.  They are on a schedule to replace their fire apparatus every (7) years and their aid units every (5) years. 

They are trained to handle surface water rescues, rope rescue, structural collapse, (5) are with the USAR Team.  Mutual aid requests are usually provided by Seattle and/or Bellevue Fire.

For those whom are not firefighters but want to break-in to this great profession, what does Chief Tubbs offer as advice to those new beginners?  “Learn everything you can about the Fire Service, have your Firefighter I or EMT which is highly recommended.  Academics are important with the Mission Statement of ‘Building Fire Services from Trade to Profession.’  Open your mind to learning all about firefighting.”

Though Mercer Island may not be hiring at the moment, other departments may.  For this small department, a new hire is required to have an AA or 90 college credits.  “Making a great firefighter is all about education and being more rounded, raising the bar.”

 http://www.mercergov.org/ – For more information about Mercer Island Fire, you may check them out on their website.

(c) 2012 The NW Fire Blog & (c) 2012 First Alarm Images