Tiffany Roles arrived fresh off the ferry Nov. 1 to start her full-time job as a firefighter-EMT in Haines.
“As soon as I got off the ferry at 11, I drove over to the firehall and started work right then,” Roles said. “I did ambulance driving and driver training and cleanup and rig checks and all sorts of stuff.”
Roles, 25, previously had served on fire departments in Sitka and Juneau.
“I left high school and was entering college and wanted excitement, so I joined Sitka Mountain Rescue,” she said. “I had a lot of fun doing that, but I didn’t get patient contact, so I joined the Sitka Fire Department for patient contact. I got interested in EMS and fire, both, and have been doing those since 2007 or 2008.”
Roles was one of seven applicants for the job in Haines and made the move from Juneau.
“There was a scholarship program through the Capital City Fire Department, and so I left January 2010 from Sitka, went to Juneau and have been doing that since, right up until this position opened up,” she said.
Roles landed the job after the resignation of Jeff Stout.
“I got excited about it and was looking for a career position,” she said. “I knew I didn’t want to stay in Juneau. I wanted to end up on the road system. My fiancée’s family is in Whitehorse, so I wanted to be on the road system, and Haines was just the perfect fit. I’m getting paid to play, I’m getting paid to do something I love and it’s easy access to the family up North.”
Roles is enrolled in distance learning programs through the University of Alaska system and enjoys hiking during her time away from work.
Her hours have been set for Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Badgley was part of a team that interviewed Roles in Haines. He said her responsibilities in Sitka and Juneau strengthened her application, butRoles will have to adapt quickly to her new community.
“She doesn’t know the area that well, so she’s going to have to learn that,” Badgley said. “It’s easier to teach someone the area than to teach them two or three years of EMS experience or firefighting experience.”
She has Firefighter I and Firefighter II certifications,” said Al Badgley, the department’s lead employee. “The Firefighter II certification is one of the highest levels you can get for fire training. She is an EMT I and she’s had a couple years of experience with that. She has multiple search and rescue credentials, mountain rescue and things of that nature.”