Matt Dill named EMS division chief
Northern Lakes Fire District bid farewell to retiring EMS Division Chief Brad Van Ert after 40 years in the fire service, including the last seven with Northern Lakes Fire.
Firefighter and paramedic Matt Dill was recently promoted to EMS division chief.
Dill began volunteering with Northern Lakes Fire in 2009. In 2011, he left the corporate world as a business planning analyst to accept a temporary, seasonal job with Northern Lakes Fire. He was hired full time in 2012 as a firefighter/EMT and obtained his paramedic certification in 2016.
Dill received a bachelor of Business Administration and Management from San Diego State University in 2005. He continued his education at Pepperdine University, The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management, earning a master of business administration in finance in 2008.
“Dill always had a desire to join law enforcement,” a press release said.
He met with retired Coeur d’Alene firefighter Jim Washko, who convinced him that firefighting was a rewarding public service career.
In March 2019, Matt and his wife, Liz, traveled to Bolivia to teach pre-hospital trauma care to their first responders.
Northern Lakes Fire looks forward to Matt Dill leading Emergency Medical Services as a division chief and working with local hospitals and the Kootenai County EMS system.
The fire district provides an all-hazards response to the greater Hayden, Rathdrum, and Twin Lakes areas in Kootenai County, located in North Idaho. It has 36 career firefighters, three chief officers, a fire marshal and deputy fire marshal, and three administrative support staff. All of its firefighters are also certified EMTs.
Northern Lakes Fire staffs two fire engines and two advanced life support ambulances with career staff that respond to more than 5,000 emergency calls annually from two strategically located fire stations.
The district encompasses 108 square miles of lakes, mountains, prairies and growing cities with a population of more than 45,000 residents.
