Chelan celebrates 100 years of community fire service; a call to serve at a time of need

Chelan Fire and Rescue has been in business 100 years this year.

A centennial community celebration takes place on Saturday, April 18.

The Chelan fire siren will sound at 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning, with a Wenatchee Valley Fire plans a helicopter fly-over, signaling the beginning of the Centennial Parade through downtown Chelan and the start of a day-long community recognition of the fire department and their staff.

"This is a community fire department," exclaimed Chelan Fire District 7 Commissioner Mark Donnell. "We look back at its start in 1926 when members of the community felt the need that it was important to put together some kind of response for a fire. A voluntary, community-driven response to what we've seen today."

"Throughout the last 100 years we've got a lot of new young faces in our station and are willing to help out our community at a time of need," Fire Chief Brandon Asher added.

Chelan fire crews work 48 hour shifts to keep the community safe, a commitment that Commissioner Donnell says goes back to the days of the original fire department.

"Many of the people that originally volunteered were members of the community, business owners and orchardists. People that lived and worked in this community," Donnell shared. "That's what we still hope to recruit, is those people who are still living within our community that want to step up and help serve."

The chief says there’s an ever-changing need for up-to-date fire equipment and firefighter training.

"Lives are at risk and you need to be trained to a safe level," Asher noted. "When it (fire department) first started it was horse drawn. Now we're driving fire apparatus that are a million dollars and high tech and full of electronics to do multiple tasks. We are very dialed into wildland firefighting. We have every hazard you could think of with the steep topography, dry weather and wind events."

"One of my most proud moments of our staff stepping up was a fire in Douglas County that was pushing 200,000 acres, then we got the Apple Acres fire here on Labor Day weekend (2020)," Asher recalled as one of his memorable fire protection events. "We were all that was left, every volunteer we had, every career staff that was available came in, every truck we had was on the fire."

"The Union Valley one would be one of my first ones," Donnell remembered. "The fire started right by my house. The team made an incredible stop on it and kept it minimal to 25-30 acres."

"Going back to the 2015 fires, because seeing the devastation that was caused in such a short period of time in that first day and seeing the complexity of something that big that blew up in my own back yard," Donnell shared. "Even more so the way the community came together after that."

Chelan Fire and Rescue Chief Brandon Asher, left, assistant Chief Shawn Sherman, and expert water rescue firefighter Sam Belsky at the scene of the Apple Cup Cafe fire exercise, Nov. 9, 2024.

"It's a brother and sisterhood that is hard to describe unless you become a part of it," said the chief in painting a words-eye picture of the men and women who provide fire protection service. Then you also look at the volunteers that are taking time away from their families, their jobs, just their daily lives to come in here and do it. It's a huge sacrifice."

"This has always been a community connection," Donnell said when reflecting on his start in firefighting as a Chelan volunteer. "It was sense of giving back to my community."

Chelan firefighter Stephanie Preheim, left, Duke Odenrider, Captain Taylor Rains and firefighter Brandon Fogelson prepare to travel to Southern California wildfires in Jan. 2025.

"We're called upon when people are probably at their worst time of their life, and we're here to help," added Donnell. "We go in with a level of confidence from our training. A level of competence through that training and we're able to mitigate situations whether it's a medical emergency, fire related incident, a rescue related incident or holding someone's hand until we can get them the help that they need."

You're invited to join and celebrate 100 years of Chelan Fire and Rescue community service.

The Chelan Fire and Rescue Centennial Parade begins at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, April 18. Firefighters host a chili cook-off at the main Chelan Fire Station, 232 E. Wapato Ave., from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Inside the station there's some historic memorabilia that has been collected over the years. The Lake Chelan Historical Museum, also has photos and pieces of equipment on display.

"We still have our parade truck," Asher proudly noted. "We try to hang on to those important pieces that we've used and helping people throughout the years."

A finale birthday event begins at 6:00 p.m. at Vin Du Lac Winery, 105 Highway 150 in Chelan.