By: Donovan W. Mann – [email protected]
Humboldt, IA – The Humboldt Fire Department is welcoming in a new recruit following his involvement in helping fight a recent fire in the city.
During the most recent meeting of the Humboldt City Council they were presented with the action to approve Zachary Sisson to be appointed to the Humboldt Fire Department. Sisson is a native of Goldfield and currently lives in Humboldt.
The new fire fighter received an offer to join the Humboldt Fire Department after his impressive actions in helping the department during a recent fire. Sisson is employed by Yacht Club Trailers in Humboldt as a maintenance tech. He was at their facility on Monday, July 27, when the huge fire broke out. “It started out and I decided to jump in and start helping my place of business with the fire department ‘cause they looked like they needed the extra hands” Sisson says. “So I did my part in helping them either move hoses or spray things and all that stuff, however I could. Bring them water and all that.”
“It felt really good to be able to help and make a difference. Do what I can to kind of fix things” he says. The next day Sisson was contacted by volunteer fire fighter Trey Thompson. They asked if Sisson was interest in joining the department because they were impressed with Sisson helping out.
Sisson says that he started getting involved with the fire before the fire department even arrived on the scene. He says he was informed that there was a fire going on in the facility and went to investigate it. Once he realized it wasn’t something they could handle with fire extinguishers he went to action. “My first job at that point is to run outside and get the gas shut off to the entire building” he says in order to prevent an explosion. “And then to get people evacuated I had to run back in to make sure that everyone was evacuated properly.”
Once the Fire Department arrived Sisson took point in explaining the location of the fire within the facility. He helped them find their best entry point and how best to access a position to attack the flames.
Sisson says that despite all that was going and the chaos of the moment there was no hesitation in getting involved. “No hesitation at all” he says. He says he’s a “giving type of person” and any time he can find a time to help somebody in need he will.
Zachary Sisson says he has considered joining the Humboldt Fire Department for a couple of years. He says his military background provides him the desire to volunteer and help people. He says it’s nice to be able to give back to the community that welcomed him in.