Hanging up the fire helmet

When Mike Mather became Northern Lakes Fire Protection District Training Division chief in June 2012, Fire Chief Pat Riley asked Mather if he thought he could make a difference.

"Hell yes, you did," Riley said to Mather, who retired Friday.

Mather, 64, has traded his fire helmet and radio for a shiny new fly fishing rod and precious free time he will spend with his family after dedicating himself to the fire service for 29 years.

“It’s bittersweet,” Mather said. "I know it’s the right time. I know it's in competent hands."

Mather was 34, self-employed and raising cattle with a business partner in Cougar Gulch when he first volunteered with the Hayden Lake Fire Protection District. He said the best part of being a volunteer was the flexibility.

"I ended up going on as many or more calls than the full-time guys,” he said.

He learned the ins and outs of hazardous materials response as he attended training sessions all over the country.

“Shortly thereafter, I knew I wanted to do this full-time,” Mather said.

He wanted to help people, but he knew this career would be much more than that.

"It’s exciting," he said. "We’re all type-A people in this business. It’s exhilarating. You are helping people, you’re helping your community. It’s a whole package.”

It's a lot of moving parts, he said.

“That’s what was exciting," Mather said. "You could do anything. If you want to be an officer, an engineer, a good fire medic. You choose your career path."

Mather's first day at Northern Lakes was Dec. 1, 1999, on what turned out to be a strange day.

"Ironically we share a really weird statistic,” Riley said to the crowd gathered at the Northern Lakes station in Hayden for Mather's retirement party.

"Our first day on the job, different dates but same situation, Mike’s as well as mine, our first day on the job into this career that we all love beyond measure, happened to be the last day of the fire chief that hired us," Riley said. "Weirdest introduction into the fire service I ever had, and I’m pretty sure it was for him too."

Mather spent that first day with another firefighter, driving around the fire district in a brush truck.

“The chief comes in, I get up, ‘Chief it’s a pleasure, I’m so lucky and thank you for hiring me,’ and he grumbled a few words, ‘Yeah, happy to have you,’ picked up his stuff and left," Mather said with a chuckle before Riley's presentation. "It was awkward."

Mather was one of two who were the last hired by Hayden Lake Fire District before consolidation to form Northern Lakes Fire District. He was promoted to engineer March 9, 2004, then to lieutenant Dec. 13, 2005. He became one of the first fire captains in new positions in the district Jan. 12, 2010.

Riley said he served well in that role as the department went through a time of uncertainty as it was feeling things out.

“Not only did we make the best with what we had, we did the best we could, and I would like to think that you contributed to that group of us who felt in some cases like we were out there on our own, but we weren’t," Riley said. "We were supported. Mike made the very best of it, and he did well with it.”

Mather later became battalion chief in 2012.

“A rising star, nonetheless, worked a lot of nights, worked a lot of days, spent a lot of time away from his family,” Riley said.

Mather worked about 21,000 hours on the job from the day he started on the line. He signed over 13,000 hours of training classes for the district, on top of thousands of hours spent training elsewhere. He is also an instructor at North Idaho College, teaching others what he has mastered in his field of expertise.

"That's exactly what our hero mentor taught us, to make it better and pass it on," Riley said.

Mather is a renowned hazardous materials specialist.

"Most of us like to refer to him as a 'haz-geek,' and I'm going to continue to refer to him as a 'haz-geek,'" Riley said. "It's a necessary evil, and he's kept us all safer as a result of his efforts."

Mather, with other Northern Lakes leaders and staff, was instrumental in creating the first Northern Lakes Fire District Firefighter Academy.

"He helped us revamp how we're hiring our personnel," Riley said. "We had a great staff, and we have a better staff as a result of him taking point on this and in no small part every other person that was involved in that."

The custom fishing rod was a gift from his Northern Lakes family, crafted by Fire Marshal Tyler Drechsel's cousin and presented to him during his retirement party.

Drechsel said Mather has been phenomenal for the department, an exemplary leader who always puts others first.

"He’s definitely going to be missed,” Drechsel said. "He’s an integral part of this department. He’s changed training and how we do things for the better. Really, a true leader. That’s what defines Mike — he’s a true leader.”

He said Mather has affected everyone at Northern Lakes in one way or another.

"He made me a better firefighter, made me a better person," he said.

Mather always said just because he was a chief didn't mean he was the only leader at the station. He shared a few words of wisdom from his life in the fire service.

"Everyone’s a leader in some form or fashion," he said. "Be that leader. You have something to bring to the department, to the other members. Be that leader. Be a mentor. Do the right thing. Never lose the public’s trust, because that’s who we are.”

Mather said he is looking forward to fly fishing and spending time with his three kids, all of whom live out of town and surprised him by making it to his retirement party. He is also excited to travel and spend time with his wife, Gina. The happy couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary Sunday.