By Matt Day
Sublimity may have one of the youngest fire chiefs in the state, but he is a veteran within the department.
Brandon Hamilton, who officially took over as chief of the Sublimity Fire District’s on May 15, already has 16 years experience volunteering with the department and serving as volunteer assistant chief. He turns 30 in January.
In addition to his work in firefighting, Hamilton has eight years’ experience as a police officer, three in Aumsville and the past five for the Stayton Police Department. He resigned his post at Stayton when he was offered the job in Sublimity.
Hamilton said his father, who spent a career in law enforcement with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department and Salem Police Department, influenced his decision to enter public service.
Before becoming a sworn officer in Aumsville he served as a cadet in Salem, all the while volunteering in Sublimity.
“I just did both,” Hamilton said. “I just got the opportunity to get hired first in police, so I took it.”
His volunteer firefighting career took him to the top, with Hamilton rising to the position of volunteer assistant chief.
Sublimity Fire District Office Administrator Amy Doran said the volunteers were supportive of Hamilton’s selection.
“People really like Brandon,” she said. “He’s been around for a while and is respected.”
Already settled into the position, Hamilton has straightforward goals for the department. He said his top priority will be to recruit more volunteers and retain those already volunteering. Hamilton said he’s confident he will be able to bring people in and keep them coming back.
“I want to try to bring morale up,” he said. “It’s important to make people want to take ownership in the organization. I want to make this a positive environment for people to work.”
He added that recruiting is a task faced by many departments in rural communities that depend on volunteers.
“Everybody struggles to find volunteers,” he said. “It’s not just us.”
He stressed the personal reward that comes with firefighting. “It’s something you can do that benefits the community,” he said. “There’s lots of personal reward in being a volunteer firefighter. I’d say the best part about it is the self satisfaction and pride.”
Training is Thursdays, 7 p.m.
Sublimity Fire Station
115 NW Parker St.
The fire district, which includes a substation in Drift Creek in addition to the main station in downtown Sublimity, currently has 20 volunteers, a number bolstered by six Chemeketa Community College students who live in the station and are enrolled in the firefighting program.
Hamilton says a full roster would be between 35 and 40.
“It’ll take the community as a whole, by either becoming volunteers or supporting us, to take us to that next step.”
A Sublimity resident with three children, Hamilton said he should be around longer his predecessor, who served as chief for two years before leaving.
“I’m here for the long haul,” he said.
