Recently, Ashland Fire & Rescue (AFR) brought on board their first team of Single Role EMS (Emergency Medical Service) providers. The new staff’s responsibility is solely medical emergency calls, which helps AFR staff respond to many more 911 calls, and especially concurrent calls, without requesting outside help, called mutual aid. This reduces call response time and keeps ambulance revenue in Ashland, which in turn supports the Single Role program.  
 
This new team will assist in keeping Ashland firefighters within City limits, rather than running medical calls, to Medford for example. “Improving our capacity to respond to fires is vital,” stated Ashland Fire & Rescue Chief, Ralph Sartain. An additional Single Role team will be added to the AFR staff roster in the coming months.
 
MEET THE CURRENT SINGLE ROLE TEAM:
Lauren Fischer
Lauren was born and raised in Grants Pass, Oregon. Shortly after graduating high school in 2017, she moved to Applegate, Oregon and decided to reach out to her local fire department to find out how to get involved. Lauren has been with Applegate Valley Fire District #9 since April of 2019, and remains a current volunteer. Lauren served as a student firefighter for three years and was a seasonal firefighter in 2020 during her time with Applegate Valley District #9. During that time, she obtained her paramedic degree at Rogue Community College (RCC) and firefighter 1 certification through RITA (Rogue Interagency Training Association). Lauren worked for American Medical Response for a year and a half as a transporting paramedic and a part time firefighter/paramedic with Rural Metro Fire. Lauren is eager to serve the community of Ashland and continue her career with Ashland Fire & Rescue. In Laurens free time she enjoys spending time with her boyfriend Chris, family and friends. Lauren also enjoys hiking, camping and paddle boarding.


Kyler Tosh
Kylar was born and raised in Southern Oregon. His fire service journey started back in 2020 a week before the Almeda Fire happened. There was nothing harder than watching your home and community struggle through a state of panic/emergency and only be able to watch. That sparked a fire in him, and he knew he wanted nothing more than to serve his community. He started the fire science program through RCC while volunteering with the Jacksonville Fire Department. Started working part time with AMR (American Medical Response) Jackson County in April 2022, after getting his EMT, was a seasonal for Jacksonville Fire in the summer of 2022 and worked full time for Rogue Regional Hospital for nine months in their emergency department before being hired by Ashland Fire & Rescue as part of the new single role program in July of 2023. He likes to spend time with his fiancé, Maresa, and their son, Noah, in his free time as well as workout and play pickleball. 



Tom Cermak
Tom was born in Chicago and moved to Southern Oregon in 1998.  Tom started in the fire service in 2013 with Rogue River Fire District and spent time with Grants Pass Fire & Rescue as a student firefighter.  He worked for AMR Josephine County for four years and for Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in the emergency department as an Emergency Department Tech for almost five years before joining Ashland Fire & Rescue in July of 2023.  In his time off he enjoys spending time traveling with his girlfriend, Shelby, chasing his two-year-old son, Westin, and likes cooking, barbecuing and working out. 
 

 

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ASHLAND FIRE & RESCUE IS ALSO WELCOMING TWO NEW FIREFIGHTERS: 

Zac Hansen
Zac Hansen was born and raised in Northern California in the town of Etna. Zac started his fire career by becoming a seasonal wildland firefighter for Cal-Fire. Zac spent his first three years for Cal-fire on an engine in Yreka, CA. He then spent the next four years in Lassen County on a Cal-Fire Helitack crew. While Zac worked, he completed a fire academy, an Associate Degree in Fire Science and a paramedic program through College of the Siskiyous. Zac is the middle child of two siblings. He currently resides in his hometown of Etna where he lives with his two dogs Annie and Oakley, and his high school sweetheart, Delaney. Zac can strongly say that he would not be where he is at today without the love and support of his family but, most importantly his in-laws Gary and Shannon, and his wife Delaney. Zac looks forward to spending his career with Ashland Fire and Rescue with the goal of someday becoming a Battalion Chief. Zac says that he will always strive to stay positive and continue to learn and improve throughout his career.
  

Christopher Giraudo
Christopher Giraudo knew he wanted to work in Southern Oregon after the years of playing soccer and taking day trips here from Roseburg where he grew up. Christopher started in the Fire Service by participating in an Internship starting in the year 2021. Chris knew he wanted to work and be a part of Ashland Fire & Rescue after a ride-along and spending the day with the Ashland Fire crew. In May of 2023, Chris was hired as a Firefighter and loves serving this community. 
 

Please join the City of Ashland in welcoming the new Ashland Fire & Rescue staff. For more information on Ashland Fire & Rescue, visit ashland.or.us/Fire. “We are better together!”


 

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CONTACT:
Ralph Sartain, Fire Chief, MO, IAAI-CFI, NAFI-CFEI
541.552.2229  
Released August 30, 2023