After more than two decades of serving Valley County, McCall Fire Chief Garrett de Jong is planning to retire from emergency services this summer.
Last week, de Jong, 44, announced he will not renew his current contract, which expires in August, to the McCall Fire Protection District Board of Commissioners.
“Having an expiration date on a contract makes you think about what the next five years looks like,” de Jong told Valley Lookout of his decision. “I don’t see a way that I could maintain a healthy life balance and continue to do this work in this capacity.”
Sadie Noah, who chairs the fire district board, did not respond to Valley Lookout’s request for comment in time for this story’s deadline.
De Jong said he is willing to remain as chief beyond the expiration of his current contract if it ensures a smooth transition.
First responder counselor
Despite his intent to retire from emergency services, de Jong remains committed to helping first responders. He wants to earn his master’s degree in counseling so he can help police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics with mental health.
“I think that there’s a lot of value in having people that understand the culture and have done it to help contribute to counseling and coaching for first responders,” he said.
Mental health has interested de Jong since early in his career. As fire chief, he has made it a priority to ensure resources are available to his staff as needed, especially following traumatic calls.
Still, de Jong has felt the toll taken by 26 years of being a firefighter and paramedic, including 21 with McCall Fire.
‘Sleeping with one eye open’
Like most first responders, de Jong is a fierce stoic who takes pride in his ability to perform in high-stress situations. It is between the calls where problems can creep in.
It starts with poor sleep habits. At McCall Fire, first responders work 48-hour shifts in which they sleep at the fire station, ready to respond within 60 seconds of a call.
“My sleep habits have gotten terrible, which make the rest of life challenging,” de Jong said. “It’s like sleeping next to a little kid that you know is going to throw up in 45 minutes—you sleep with one eye open.”
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Healthy coping mechanisms gone bad
Stress relief is another challenge. De Jong, a long-time competitive athlete, used powerlifting and ice baths to unwind, but even that took an unhealthy turn.
“I was doing pretty extreme workouts, making myself sick, blowing blood vessels in my face,” he said.
One New Year’s Eve, de Jong got off shift and took his usual ice bath, but in the North Fork of the Payette River. Getting out of the river that night, he saw the dangers his therapist had been warning him about.
“She was right,” he said. “I was addicted to the adrenaline rush that I would get from the pain. That was like my coping mechanism.”
The stress of being a first responder followed de Jong home and often made it difficult for him to be the husband he wanted to be for his wife, Tawny, and the father he wanted to be to their four children. Counseling has helped with that.
“I can feel this switch flip where I feel like a normal human and I’m a better husband and a better dad to my kids,” de Jong said.
Career background
De Jong started with McCall Fire in 2004 as a full-time captain. In 2007, he was promoted to assistant chief, and in 2019 was promoted to fire chief.
As chief, de Jong led an effort to get Valley County and the cities of McCall, Donnelly, and Cascade to adopt new propane safety regulations following a 2019 explosion in McCall that killed a man and critically injured his granddaughter.
He also, in partnership with fire chiefs in Cascade and Donnelly, helped overhaul the county’s EMS structure by creating a new countywide district that received voter approval last November for a $4.2 million tax levy, which tripled EMS funding compared to a previous levy. Feeling comfortable that EMS is on sustainable ground made it easier to retire as fire chief, de Jong said.
“At this point, I’m confident that the bar is going to get raised here with or without me,” he said.
De Jong’s first responder career started in 1999 as a volunteer with Donnelly Fire and EMS, which in 2002 made him the agency’s first paid staffer.
He has a family background of firefighting after his father, Marc de Jong, spent three decades with the Donnelly Fire Department, beginning as a volunteer in 1976 and culminating in a five-year stint as chief from 2002 to 2007.
“I grew up going to calls with my dad and going to training and all that kind of stuff,” de Jong said. “To be the fire chief in my hometown was pretty fun. It’s been an honor and a privilege.”
