Our latest fire academy included four outstanding new firefighters. We'd like to take the opportunity to introduce you to two of them.
Firefighter Sean Kirk
Q: What brought you to the Port of Seattle Fire Department?
A: I came to the port because I heard how great of a place it was to work. Then actually having the opportunity to come in and meet some of the staff and firefighters at the department, I knew it was a place where I would be welcomed, have the opportunity to grow in my career path, as well as develop long lasting relationships with my peers.
Q: Was there anything that really surprised you about the job as you went through Academy?
A: Looking back now, I see how much work me and my fellow recruits put in to the academy. You don’t really realize when you are actually there and doing it how much time and dedication it takes to be successful at the academy. At this point, now it’s rewarding to know that all that time we sacrificed is paying off.
Q: What are you most excited about your new role as a POSFD Firefighter?
A: I am most excited to get to work and train hard to keep working on the skills that we were given to me during academy... and also adding to them. I am also excited to finally be able to work with my peers and get to know and learn from them. Everyone has knowledge within the fire service and learning from those who came before me is a privilege.
Q: Anything else you'd like to share?
A: Outside the fire service some of my favorite things to do are spend time with my 6 month old son Kai and coach basketball. As someone who was a basketball player before it keeps me around the sport and allows me to give back to the kids who were in my position once before…it also lets me get my son in the gym which I love to see!
Firefighter Ezra Stark
Q: What brought you to the Port of Seattle Fire Department?
A: I worked with FFs at the Port during National Guard joint exercises and CBRN training in the past and really liked the family environment. When I left the military and joined the Dept of Health as the medical countermeasures coordinator during covid, I really missed that type of feeling with my coworkers. So when I thought about joining to the Fire service, the Port was my first choice. From when I first tested to join the Fire service and was interviewed, hired and started academy, was about 3 months so it all happened really fast! I’m grateful to be done with academy now and starting with A shift next week!
Q: Was there anything that really surprised you about the job as you went through Academy?
A: I think the biggest surprise was the fact that a majority of the job seems to be more in need of good patient/EMT skills, rather than the fire fighting skills that we were training on mostly in academy. We had our 5 weeks of EMT, but I’m really looking forward to learning more about patient care at the airport, and on passenger aircraft, because that’s something that the academy didn’t cover. Definitely love the structure/wildland/vehicle/aircraft rescue firefighting though! I’m looking forward to developing my skills into a good mix both as I continue to learn from the COs and FFs on shift.
After 16 years in the Army, the structure/paramilitary environment of academy was very familiar, so not a lot of surprises there. But I definitely learned a lot over the past 6 months!
Q: What are you most excited about your new role as a POSFD Firefighter?
A: I’m most excited about being able be a part of the Port Fire family! I feel really lucky to be where I’m at and to work with my A shift brothers and sisters(and other shifts/admin/training as well) to earn their trust in the field, and their respect and friendship at the station.
Q: Anything else you'd like to share?
A: Ok, so I haven’t really had a life outside of academy for the last 6 months so I haven’t really had time to do much, mostly yard work and improvement projects around the property/house that we bought/built a couple years ago. So I have a lot of “home hobbies” like playing basketball, ATVing with my 2 kids(11 and 13 yrs) in our big sand pit, spending quality time and taking long walks with my wife of 14 yrs and chasing my 100lb dog around the property(while he chases our chickens or the neighbors peacocks!)
