Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Jared Huenergardt started work as a paramedic for Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District this month.
He joins Josh Bondesen and Eli Harris as additions to the medic staff at the department over the last year. Bondesen started working for SHFAD last April and Harris in July.
Jared Huenergardt
Huenergardt, a 2002 graduate of Sweet Home High School, grew up in Sweet Home.
“Pretty much when I graduated, I knew what I wanted to do,” Huenergardt said. “Probably the biggest reason was my dad’s a volunteer here.”
His father also works for the Forest Service, Huenergardt said, so he became interested in wildland fire. After graduation, he went to work for Oregon Department of Forestry as a firefighter for two summers and joined Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District as a volunteer.
After five months, he went to work as an intern medic, he said. “I got all my schooling as quickly as I could because knew this is what I wanted to do.”
He earned his paramedic certification two years ago, he said. He knew he wanted to work in Sweet Home, but there were no open positions at the time and he wanted more experience.
He worked for Metro West, a private ambulance service in Portland, for three months and then went to work for Woodburn Ambulance, also a private service, where he worked for a year and a half.
He lived in Salem until September when he and his wife, Becky, purchased a home in Sweet Home. He commuted to Woodburn, working 48 hours on with 96 hours off.
“The goal was to some day work here,” Huenergardt said. He saw a lot of the state, but “this is where I feel like I’m home.”
This is where his family and friends live, he said, and the big city holds no appeal. This is where he wants to live and work.
“I really want to help the town and department out,” he said.
He completed his prerequisites at Linn-Benton Community College and earned his paramedic certification at Lane Community College.
His interest in the fire and ambulance service was initially in fighting fires, he said, but that career required medical training.
As he continued his medical training, “I realized it was a lot of fun,” he said. “Every time you come to work it’s something different.”
Sometimes, he said, he’s working on equipment or the Fire Hall. The next minute, he’s on a fire or ambulance call.
“I’m excited to be here,” he said.
Eli Harris
Harris got into the fire and ambulance service after leaving the Airborne Infantry and serving in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
He was born in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and raised in Bend, Harris said. At age 20, he joined the Army and served with the 82nd Airborne for five years on an anti-terrorist team in reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition.
“My daughter was born while I was over in Iraq,” he said. At the same time, he had a minor knee injury, and his air-jump status was canceled. So he decided to leave the service in 2004, and he moved to Sweet Home.
His wife, Heather (Lang) Harris, grew up in Sweet Home, and was friends with Rachel (Ahola) Tyler, wife of Nick Tyler. Nick Tyler served in the Navy, stationed in Virginia, at about the same time Harris was in the Army.
Heather Harris went to school at Oregon State University, and Eli Harris was planning to resume his education in civil engineering, where he left off before joining the military.
But he had been visiting the fire department, where Nick Tyler was working at the time. He would ride along on calls.
“I fell in love with it here,” Harris said. “It’s a great community. It shifted my focus in school to fire science and emergency medicine. Really it was the constantly changing face of the job. There’s always room to grow.”
The military changed him too, Harris said, and civil engineering didn’t seem as interesting. He also enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes with the fire and emergency medical service.
“I love the small department,” he said, which has the qualities he was after in a career. The small-department camaraderie is like what he left behind in his platoon. It is, “to coin an overused phrase, a new band of brothers.”
Sweet Home itself is kind of like taking Bend back 20 years, he said. It’s great for outdoorsmen, and it’s a “tight community.”
“I’d like to stay here as long as I’m happy,” he said. His family is two hours away, “which is just about perfect.”
Harris has a daughter, Madison, 1, and another baby due in June.
Josh Bondesen
Like Huenergardt, Bondesen, 24, grew up in Sweet Home and is happy his career has returned him to his roots.
“My dad actually volunteered here,” he said. “I kind of was around it. I kind of remembered the camaraderie that the fire service offers. Not only do we work together, we’re all friends.”
He likes the close-knit, family-oriented atmosphere of the department, he said.
Initially, Bondesen wanted to become a physical therapist, he said, and he earned his associate’s degree at LBCC. But then he discovered how difficult it was to break into the profession.
Dave Barringer, then a battalion chief, suggested he explore the fire service, and he rode along with Jake Thompson on Barringer’s shift.
That piqued his interest, and he returned to LBCC to learn the basics of the business, he said. “I liked it, and I was good at it.”
He started volunteering with SHFAD in April 2003 and was hired as an intern medic in April 2004.
He attended Lane Community College to earn his paramedic certification and then went to work for Metro West.
“I got to see a lot,” he said. “I experienced a lot up there. It really helped with my confidence as a medic.”
He spent about five months working special events for Metro West, including Rose Garden events. He sat at the end of the Trailblazers bench, worked at the Portland International Raceway and staffed concerts, such as Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
He said he definitely prefers the small-town service, particularly Sweet Home where transport times can be up to 35 minutes, he said. In most places, transport times generally run just a few minutes. “You don’t get the patient interaction.”
In a department like Sweet Home’s, “you really get to make a difference,” Bondesen said. “You actually get to be a medic. I actually get to see medication work.”
Although, on more serious calls, he definitely wishes the hospital was closer, he said.
“I think Sweet Home is growing,” Bondesen said. “I think we have a lot of potential here,” and he looks forward to being part of that. “I’m excited for the future of this department. We’ve got some really good firefighters here,” including a strong group of volunteers who are critical to the department’s functioning.
He doesn’t do the “where do you see yourself in five years” thing, he said, but he would like to see himself in Sweet Home for a long time, with his family and friends.
He works for a good department and with good people, he said. He also enjoys the variety in the work.
“It’s something new every day,” he said.
Bondesen is married to Janine, who grew up in the Brownsville area.
“To work in the fire service, you have to have a very understanding wife,” he said, and he is thankful for his wife for being one of those.