VFW Commander Jack Gauthier repeatedly tried to present Alpine Firefighter and Paramedic Shane Ozbirn with the 2019 VFW Firefighter of the Year award recently but every time he and Alpine Fire Captain Greg O’Gorman tried to kick off the event, attending firefighters were obligated to rush out the door on a call, leaving their drinks and dinner behind.
It was a fitting situation for a room filled with Alpine and Viejas firefighters and their families to put the evening on pause and wait for on-duty paramedics to return from assisting with car accidents that popped up throughout the stormy night.
After two false starts to the award presentation, a second or a third drink refill for several guests, and the majority of a spaghetti dinner consumed by more than 50 attendees, Alpine Fire Captain Greg O’Gorman decided to press on with the event.
With heavy rain pounding on the corrugated roof of the VFW patio and the heat lamps cranked up to keep guests warm, Gauthier introduced himself and explained that this particular award was solely from the Alpine VFW, one local group recognizing the work of another in the community.
VFW Quartermaster Carl Silva chimed in:
“It’s all about community and recognizing firefighters, first responders. It’s a dangerous job,” Silva said.
O’Gorman told the story of how a young Ozbirn, in first grade, was so taken with a fire truck during a school visit that he decided right then he was going to work as a firefighter when he grew up. Moreover, he decided that he was going to live and work in his home community of Alpine.
According to O’Gorman, Ozbirn began volunteering with Alpine fire at 15, then served as a Reserve Firefighter with San Miguel Fire Protection district at 18. He graduated as the youngest in his class from Heartland Fire Academy with distinction then went on to complete a Paramedic internship with Heartland Fire and Rescue in El Cajon before landing his first firefighting job with Viejas Fire Department.
At 22, he fulfilled his dream of being hired by Alpine Fire department.
The captain said that 26-year old Ozbirn is by far the youngest firefighter in the district yet has already been elected as Union President and earned a Life Saving Medal of Valor from San Diego county Sheriff Bill Gore.
“He’s been a huge asset in the fire station and on the emergency ground… He exemplifies what our Fire Chief Bill Paskle tells us: that every call, every interaction is a chance to show the public they’ve been served by the best fire department in the world,” O’Gorman said.
When Gauthier presented Ozbirn with the wooden plaque proclaiming him Firefighter of the Year, the firefighter blushed a deep red and said that everything he’s accomplished is because of his family and the support he is given by the firefighting community.
