Snapshots of the future

When Pullman reserve firefighter Crystal Hillestad showed members of the Pullman Fire Department a photo of her 5-year-old self wearing oversized firefighter gear at the 2003 National Lentil Festival, John Gollnick recognized a familiar face.

“We were eating dinner,” said Gollnick, a veteran of 22 years with the department. “She (Hillestad) got the picture and she showed one of the guys on my shift, showed another guy on my shift and then it came to me and nobody had even recognized me from that picture. I looked at it and I’m like, ‘that’s me.’ ”

Gollnick was in the photo, standing behind the little girl who would grow up to become his colleague at the fire station.

Seeing firefighters at events like the Lentil Festival and going on field trips to the fire station sparked an interest in firefighting for Hillestad that culminated into her joining the Pullman Fire Department four years ago as a reserve.

“My experience with Pullman, specifically, and how they always treated us and wanted everyone to learn about it made me more interested for sure,” she said.

Christian Schad has a similar story. The Pullman firefighter and paramedic said one of the first words he ever spoke was “firetruck.” He grew up in Spokane but visited Pullman often as a child and would interact with firefighters at events like the Lentil Festival.

“It was very impactful for me to come and talk to a real-life firefighter and try on some fire gear,” he said, adding that he became a volunteer firefighter in Spokane immediately after turning 18.

Schad would become a reserve firefighter in Pullman in 2014, went to paramedic school and rejoined the Pullman department seven months ago.

“It was always my goal to come back here ever since I got hired as a reserve,” he said. “I just found that I love the atmosphere here. Pullman’s such a welcoming city. The police and fire departments are very welcoming and very personable. So I felt at home here.”

In addition to the camaraderie at the fire station, Schad said he enjoys the effect he has on people’s lives through his profession.

“There’s not a lot of people that say they can interact with several different people over the course of their day when you go to different calls and hopefully make their lives better,” he said. “That’s something that really drives me as a person is I enjoy making someone’s life better and it’s very fulfilling in that regard.”

Hillestad saw that effect first-hand when she was 9 years old and was injured after being kicked in the face by a horse. She remembers Pullman EMTs talking to her, keeping her calm and making her feel like she was in good hands.

“I remember thinking this is what I want to do for other people,” she said.

She became a wildland firefighter in southern Idaho at 16 and later, after earning her fire science college degree, joined the Pullman Fire Department.

Hillestad and Schad both said they hope to inspire children the same way firefighters like Gollnick inspired them.

Gollnick, who believes he responded to Hillestad’s accident with the horse, said he enjoys interacting with children at community events and giving them safety talks at their schools. He loves waving to children as he drives by them in a firetruck and getting called “Firefighter John”

Gollnick said he is proud of being part of Hillestad’s journey to becoming a firefighter.

“It was really cool to see one of those pictures and all of a sudden she’s working here,” he said. “If I had a little bit of help in that, that’s awesome.”

Anthony Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.