Sean C. Morgan
Two firefighter-paramedics, J.T. Weld and Scott Moehlmann, will bolster the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District’s ability to respond during its busiest hours as they officially begin work this month.
They fill two newly created positions partially funded by a three-year $339,000 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. The funding decreases annually over the term of the grant. Each will work three days per week, Sunday through Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., alternating Wednesdays.
Weld has been a part-time paramedic since August 2015. Moehlmann completed his paramedic internship with Sweet Home and currently works for Pacific West Ambulance.
Weld, 21, graduated from Sweet Home High School in 2014. His father is Ken Weld, who retired in December 2014 as a battalion chief with SHFAD.
After high school, J.T. Weld volunteered as a firefighter, but he didn’t expect to make a career out of it.
“I went to school to play baseball at Chemeketa,” Weld said. He initially planned to study civil engineering, but he ended up getting hurt and unintentionally entering the fire and medic program at Chemeketa Community College in Salem. He had signed up for an EMT class but did not realize it.
“Then I got into it and said, ‘This is awesome,'” Weld said. He had thought about it, and “I wouldn’t have chosen anything else honestly.”
He completed his certification at Chemeketa and went to work as a part-time medic. He officially switched jobs on Dec. 14.
By contrast, Moehlmann, 27, knew he was going into the fire service.
Moehlmann, who began working here on Dec. 10, grew up in Willamina and graduated from high school there in 2007. He began volunteering at West Valley Fire in Willamina in 2004.
“I knew exactly what I wanted,” Moehlmann said. A friend’s father was training officer at West Valley Fire, and his friend urged him to check out the cadet program there.
He became a resident volunteer after high school, and immediately started working on his prerequisites at Chemeketa, where he completed his intermediate EMT certification.
He finished his paramedic certification at the College of Emergency Services in Milwaukie.
Moehlmann went to work for Pacific West Ambulance in 2011 while continuing his studies. He worked part-time at Pacific West and in Waldport for about a year, and he has been a volunteer in Waldport.
Attracting him to the business was “the adrenaline rush and the ability to help people in need,” Moehlmann said.
“It was just cool,” Weld said. “It interested me. I saw a lot of excitement in this career field.”
He enjoyed hearing all of his father’s stories, he said. “It’s never boring.”
And the fire service is a family, both said.
Fire Chief Dave Barringer said that Moehlmann specifically wanted to work in Sweet Home.
“He specifically wanted to be here. He showed that intensely preparing for his test.”
“This area offers a lot for myself and my fiance that we like to do outside of work,” Moehlmann said. “This is really an ideal spot for both of us. I had a blast working here before.”
Moehlmann lives in Waldport but plans to move to the area. His fiance, Hannah Buleza, recently graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor of science degree in fisheries and wildlife. She plans to go into stream restoration.
“I’ve only experienced Sweet Home,” Weld said. “It’s honestly all I’d like to experience. I’d love to finish my career out here. I’d like to raise a family here.
“I can recognize something that’s good when I have it.”
Moehlmann brings experience as a firefighter and medic, and he finished first in testing, Barringer said. “Everybody enjoyed meeting him, getting to know him. He’s a good guy, and a really solid individual.”
Weld is a good addition too, Barringer said, and Sweet Home firefighters have gotten to see him at work.
“In the period of time that J.T.’s been here, he’s gotten a lot of experience and knowledge,” Barringer said. “He’s been on a constant plane of improvement. He’s a good firefighter.”
He’s energetic and always among the first to get “to say, ‘Hey, can I do that? Can I get that?'” Barringer said.
The department had 10 applicants he said. Nine completed the test and were quality applicants, he said.
“I was stoked,” Barringer said.
After the grant funds run out, he said, the district is hoping to keep them on staff. That will depend on different factors, like the GMT Bill. The GMT bill was approved by the legislature and is in the implementation phase.
The new rules will increase ambulance reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, Barringer said. Right now, the amount is impact is unknown. Currently, they are reimbursed at 27 to 35 percent of the bill.
While the district doesn’t have all of its tax revenue in yet, Barringer said, it’s more than expected and budgeted.
As property values increase, it may provide additional revenue the district can use to continue paying for the new positions.