Jared Spoelstra didn’t initially dream of becoming a firefighter, like many kids do. He was hoping to join the Air Force like his parents and become a pilot, but his height prevented that. So when Spoelstra’s friend invited him to a Whatcom County Fire District 7 cadet program tryout during his senior year at Ferndale High School, he decided to check it out. That decision changed his life.

“It was extrication training – we got to use the jaws of life on the very first day,” Spoelstra said. “I came home totally on fire -- no pun intended -- saying ‘Hey mom and dad, guess what I did?’”

That day marked the start of a 20-year career in firefighting for Spoelstra. He volunteered for five years before becoming a full-time firefighter and emergency medical technician (or EMT) for Whatcom County Fire District 7. He said he loves helping locals, the great work-life balance, and the camaraderie with his team.

“It’s like having 30 brothers that you never asked for, and they’ll give you unwanted advice or razz you a bit,” Spoelstra said of his fellow firefighters. “We get together and eat shift meals when we can, and support one another when somebody’s going through a rough time.”

Being a firefighter comes with an unusual schedule: 24-hour shifts every other day for three days, then a four-day break. A routine shift begins with the previous crew catching up the team on what happened over the past 24 hours, then the firefighters check all their equipment to make sure they’re working properly and filled with water. Firefighters also will hold training sessions, go over fire plans with local businesses and organizations, and visit local schools to teach fire safety. Spoelstra says his crew extinguishes about one major residential fire structure a month.

Spoelstra’s schedule as a volunteer firefighter in the mid-2000s was even more tricky. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Spoelstra would attend classes at Skagit Valley College’s fire service program. Then, he’d squeeze in a few hours of sleep at home before going to his graveyard shift job stocking shelves at Cost Cutter. And on the nights where he didn’t work at the store, he took EMT training classes at Bellingham Technical College.

“Taking 21 credits between two colleges and working 35 hours a week … it was exhausting,” said Spoelstra.

Spoelstra has lived in Whatcom County for his entire life. He was born in St. Joseph’s and attended Central Elementary School, Vista Middle School, and FHS. One of his biggest passions as a student was music – he played a wide variety of instruments, including piano, alto saxophone, euphonium, trombone, and pit percussion (timpani, bells, chimes, etc.). In particular, he was heavily involved in marching band, led by Steve Menefee, who still teaches band at FHS today.

“Steve has great energy, he’s really kind,” said Spoelstra.

Spoelstra said he loved playing music not only because it came naturally to him, but he also loved the strong friendships that came from playing with the same musicians for years.

“There was a lot of comradery because in marching band, you have to do all of your formations and we traveled together,” he said. “So the group ended up pretty tight-knit.”

After graduating in 2004, Spoelstra played with the Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps all over the country. All of those travels reaffirmed his desire to live and work in the Ferndale area.

“With the Bugle Corp, we traveled around the nation … but the Pacific Northwest is just beautiful,” Spoelstra said. “Ferndale is the place that brought me up, and it’s nice to be able to work where I was raised.”