Grace under fire
<p>On the first day as fire chief of the Mica Kidd Island Fire Protection District, Jason Blubaum orchestrates the fire scene Thursday, July 21, 2011 during a structure fire in the Stevens Point Estates near Kidd Island Bay.</p>
<p>Mica Kidd Island Fire Chief Jason Blubaum was formerly a training officer with the Moscow Fire Department and began his fire career with a fire department for a lumber mill in Alaska.</p>
Jason Blubaum displayed grace under fire from his first day on the job.
Really. It was a four-alarmer on Rockford Drive.
"I literally had my radio for 26 minutes before it paged out," he said with a grin.
So the 36-year-old did what he had to do: He went to fight that garage fire last Thursday. And yes, he and volunteers doused it.
Since his arrival as the new fire chief of the Mica Kidd Island Fire Protection District, Blubaum has responded to a wildfire, a car accident and a few medical calls, too. All in a day's work. Don't sweat the small stuff, he says.
"I'm not just a head administrator," he said, laughing. "I'm also the head janitor, the head plumber, the head electrician, the training officer, the EMS chief, I do it all."
Blubaum arrived from Moscow, where he spent the last 10 years as the training captain for the Moscow Rural Fire District. His wife Lacrecia encouraged him to apply for the Mica district job earlier this year.
Initially, he balked. Then, he followed his spouse's advice.
"I didn't think I had a chance at it, but they gave me the phone call," he said. "It was a surprise."
The Alaska native feels at home in the tight-knit, rural community. His parents live in Coeur d'Alene. He even enjoys the cozy confines of his small office in the fire house on Kidd Island Bay Road. It places him smack in the middle of the action when someone walks in the front door or the alarm sounds.
"It's like walking into your house and putting on an old pair of slippers at night," he said. "Very comfortable for me, this move, coming in here. Folks are great."
Blubaum's 17-year firefighting career started in Alaska. A carpenter with a degree in chemistry from the University of Idaho, Blubaum's diverse background prepped him for the job where he'll take on multiple tasks on any day.
He notes that the Mica Kidd Island Fire Protection District's tax rate is about 48 cents per thousand of assessed property value, among the lowest in Kootenai County.
"Everything you see here is either donated or we do it ourselves," he said Friday afternoon.
With the Mica Kidd Island Fire Protection District, he'll continue to recruit and train volunteers to battle blazes in its 68-square-mile coverage area south of Coeur d'Alene. Resources to do that include a fire engine, two water tankers, four brush truck and two fireboats and crew of 23 volunteers. He noted that 19 responded to last week's Rockford Drive fire.
"They all drop what they're doing," said Blubaum, the only paid staffer. "They come running and they do a really good job."
The outgoing, amiable Blubaum, who staffs about 5-6, enjoys training, teaching and meeting people. Golfing, fishing, and spending time with his wife and two daughters are his hobbies.
He likes the district's operations, but like any firefighter, would rather there not be any fires. He encourages rural homeowners to keep defensible space around their homes by clearing brush and being careful with any planned burns.
He notes that with the environment drying out after a long, wet spring, the fire season is ahead.
"I'm really big on fire prevention. I believe that is the best thing for our tax base, our customers," he said. "If we can prevent fires, then we don't have this huge dollar loss. It's not an economic impact to the community."
Community. It's a word he comes back to over and over. Because whether a wildfire or a structure fire, he said it's not just a personal emergency.
"It's a community emergency," he said.