When Amanda Winchell started working at the Spokane Fire Department Training Center, she never thought her love of raising goats would intersect with her job as an office manager there.
But Chief Brian Schaeffer loves to utilize his employees’ unique skills.
“She’s part of our family, and the goats are her passion when she’s at home,” Schaeffer said. “That really resonated with us when we started looking at ways that we can use skills of people across the organization and empower them to do things like this.”
Winchell has been raising goats for about seven years. Last year, Schaeffer asked her to use her goats to help promote their wildfire preparedness and fuel reduction programs. The fuel reduction program in partnership with the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department uses goats to eat vegetation that can fuel fires.