Valley firefighter honored for heroism

PALMER — The events that led to Eric Van Dusen’s commendation from Safari Club International take him about 30 seconds to describe.

He said he was in a driveway as a fire raged across a field of dry grass and brush. A fire engine and its crew were nearby.

“When I was coming back up, I seen the wind push the fire right up on the engine,” he said.

The fire burned over the engine and Van Dusen drove his fire department pickup into harm’s way to rescue three of the engine’s four-man crew. The fourth was able to escape safely on foot. Van Dusen said he got two of them up to the road and went back for the third, who he found pretty quickly.

This was during a fire that threatened the Cedar Hills subdivision last November. A pickup pulling a trailer sparked the blaze when high winds pushed the trailer over, causing sparks that caught the grass on fire. The wind did the rest of the work.

It was that wind that caused the flames to blow over Van Dusen’s colleagues and their fire engine. And while it only takes him half a minute to tell the story, that simple telling leaves out a few details that make what he did worthy of commendation.

First, the fire that raged over the engine was hot enough it burned all the fire hoses off the truck.

Second, when he was up there in his pickup, Van Dusen opened his pickup door and was inundated with heavy smoke and embers. It was hard to breathe, he said, and certainly dangerous. But he weighed the risks and took action.

“I didn’t want those guys to get hurt,” he said.

The city of Palmer was certainly grateful. Jon Owen, director of the city’s department of emergency services, had high praise.

“In my opinion he behaved quite bravely and represented the fire department admirably,” he said.

It was actually Tom Remaley, chief of the Palmer Police Department, who nominated Van Dusen for the Safari Club award. The Alaska chapter’s president had asked him for nominations.

“I thought Eric was the perfect guy,” Remaley said. “He did something that deserved recognition.”

When he saw the fire overrun the engine, Van Dusen said, he thought for sure the truck and possibly its crew would be lost. Miraculously, the engine was fine. The only damage was to the hoses.

Van Dusen said he thinks the wind was blowing so hard the fire just ran under the truck and kept moving. He saw it in Cedar Hills — there were some homes there where the fire burned the backyard, coming within feet of the house but then just moving around it.

Fighting fires in that kind of weather can be surreal and not a little frustrating.

“It just took off. The wind was pushing it so hard it was out of our hands,” Van Dusen said.

The fire burned 100 acres. No homes were lost, just some outbuildings. Van Dusen described it as a “1 in 100 years” fire. It’s clear it was one of the most, if not the most, harrowing fire he’s worked, and he’s been a firefighter for decades, starting out as an Explorer — a kid too young to be a firefighter but who can still help out on fire scenes — with the Butte Fire Department in 1984.

An employee of Palmer’s Public Works Department, Van Dusen has risen to the rank of deputy chief of the Butte department. Fire service is in his family. He’s a fourth-generation firefighter and his kids are the fifth.

He said he enjoys the work. There’s certainly an adrenaline component to it — he can’t deny that — but what he enjoys most is the service.

“The biggest thing for me is helping the community,” he said.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.