More than 60 current and former Pine Creek employees attended the 30th anniversary of the Pine Creek station on Saturday. In the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument area, Pine Creek has provided advanced ambulance service to visitors since 1986.
Reunion attendees came from all over Washington and Oregon, as well from California, Montana, Arizona and Mississippi.
One by one, they took the microphone to share an anecdote or two about what their time at Pine Creek meant to them and how it helped shape who they are today.
They included battalion fire chiefs, fire department captains, a cardiovascular registered nurse, a county sheriff, a deputy sheriff, the regional director for the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and over a dozen paramedic/fire fighters, to name a few.
Of the 90-plus men and women who have served at Pine Creek over the years, nearly 80 percent of them retain a position in the public service sector.
Attendees gave credit to Tom McDowell, assistant chief for North Country Emergency Medical Services, and his wife, Dianne McDowell, for shaping who they are today.
“Crossing paths with Tom and Dianne and the family they built with us changed all of us and led us down the path we’re on today,” Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown said.