By James Day
Silverton native Ed Grambusch grew up wanting to be an air traffic controller. He tried work of a similar vein as a 9-1-1 emergency dispatcher. But once he hooked on as a volunteer with the Silverton Fire District, the career search was over.
Grambusch continued his 9-1-1 work as he worked his way into a career as a firefighter. Now, 33 years after he first served as a volunteer, he is retiring as assistant fire chief.
“I was young, full of energy and wanted to do it all,” Grambusch said. “It sounded fun and it is. We love the adrenaline. I don’t know a firefighter who is not an adrenaline junkie. But the real fun is the satisfaction of serving the community and keeping it safe.”
The SFD cover 106 square miles, with five stations – Station 1 in Silverton, Station 2 at Victor Point, Station 3 on the Abiqua, Station 4 in Scotts Mills and Station 5 in the Crooked Finger area. There are only eight career firefighters, with the bulk of the duty handled by volunteers.
“In the middle of the night when you see that rig going down the road… that’s the volunteers,” he said.
Grambusch was asked about what has changed in his 33 years.
“A lot is different,” he said. “Regulations have increased drastically, safety concerns, training issues. All have increased exponentially. And the equipment we wear is so much better it’s almost dangerous.”
Grambusch noted that helmets have advanced so much firefighters no longer get the old sensation when things are getting “too hot.”
The types of calls also have changed. In the 1990s firefighters would be dispatched to help people under the influence of alcohol. “Now we administering narcolan for fentanyl overdoses.”
Traffic crashes, he said, aren’t nearly as dangerous to drivers and passengers as in the past. “We’re seeing fewer fatals because of advanced technology (in cars and trucks),” he said.
Fuels have changed. There is more synthetic material and less natural wood.
“Also, it’s a much more toxic atmosphere,” he said. “I always put on a breathing apparatus.”
The Silverton Fire District and its partners faced the challenge of a lifetime on Labor Day weekend in 2020. When the weather turned hotter and the wind kicked up, Grambusch recalls looking at his son and saying “this is spooky, this is scary. This is fire weather, and it’s not good.”
Grambusch spent a week up in the Santiam Canyon, mainly in the North Fork area. “That was really bad. I’ve never seen such devastation,” he said.
The Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires scorched 400,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,500 structures and virtually leveled Detroit and Gates. Five people were killed.
And it was a close call for Silverton firefighters and others trying to keep the fire from taking out Silverton and Molalla. A heroic fight took place on the ridges northeast of town in a lesser-known fire battle that was immortalized in a lengthy piece in The Atlantic.
Grambusch, who definitely skews toward the glass being half full, also saw inspiring signs amid the destruction.
“It was extremely stressful and it kept going and on,” he said. “But those big fires brought us together as a community. Everybody was out helping and doing what they could. I live here. It made me feel proud to be a community member.”
Grambusch officially retires at the end of the month, although he said he plans to stay on for a couple of months to assist with administrative matters. He and his wife will be moving to a five-acre spread in Idaho where he can rest, relax, enjoy the great outdoors… and look for a job.
“Maybe I can catch on at a hardware store,” he said. “I have to get a job to stay busy and I love talking to people.”
