When he graduated from Washougal High School in 1986, Wesley Long’s career plan was the same as many graduates in that part of Clark County: hook on at the paper mill in Camas and try to keep moving up to jobs with higher pay and more responsibility.
He got a good job at the mill in 1987, operating heavy equipment: forklifts, grab trucks, you name it. The pay was good, if not so much the hours.
One night in 1992 Long reported to work on the graveyard shift. As he was punching his timecard into the clock, he not-iced a posting on the adjacent employee bulletin board.
It was an announcement for a position on the mill’s fire control and emergency response team. A light bulb clicked on in Long’s head. “It sounded interesting so I put my name in for it,” Long says.
He got the job, and by the time he left the mill’s employment in 2006, he had achieved the unit’s highest rank: fire chief and emergency response coordinator.
“That job set the pattern for what I do today,” Long says. “If I hadn’t taken that risk when I was checking in for graveyard, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”