When Dave Wakefield began as a volunteer firefighter in Utah, clear breathing was a luxury. The Washington Terrace fire department in the small town of Ogden had four breathing masks that were cycled amongst the firefighters during the few-and-far-between calls.

Thirty-seven years later, Wakefield retired from East Pierce Fire and Rescue in a different era. Breathing masks are now required equipment on calls that number in the thousands.

“My first year as a firefighter (in Ogden, Utah), we received 40 calls per year,” Wakefield said. “Now (in East Pierce) we receive about 7,000 calls per year.

“We didn’t have 911 back then. People generally took care of themselves or their neighbors. They would drive themselves to the hospital.”

Wakefield was born and raised in Edgewood, where his father and uncle were both original members of the volunteer fire department there. He spent his childhood around the fire station hanging out with the firefighters there.

They were all craftsmen. Wakefield’s father and uncle built cabinets for a living. Wakefield worked in the construction business before becoming a career firefighter.

He moved down to Utah as a young man, meeting his wife when he was 21 years old and working as the manager of a lumberyard. At 24, he was given the opportunity to sign up as a volunteer firefighter when the Washington Terrace station opened. The station had a relatively small footprint of responsibility, covering an area with only 2,000 to 3,000 residents.

In 1977, they moved back to Washington and into the Lake Tapps community. Wakefield began volunteering with the Lake Tapps Station 22 Fire Department and continued to work in the construction field until he was given the opportunity to become a career firefighter in 1981.

“It’s probably a good thing that I got out of the construction business, given the problems they’re having now,” he said.

During the early ‘80s, Wakefield helped train recruits to the fire department. One of those recruits was current East Pierce Capt. Tim McCoy.

“He had a way of making the training fun, even if it was the ‘Dying Cockroach,’ where we had to drop on our back in the mud if we screwed up,” McCoy said. “If there was a good cop, bad cop scenario, he was always the good cop.

“He’s a good person. He had your best interests in mind, and he would always have something favorable to say, whether it was something you needed to hear or genuine encouragement.”

McCoy also praised Wakefield’s part in crafting the community’s Disaster Management Plan.

“Because of the job, the other people in the fire service become a second family,” Wakefield said. “On the job you’re spending as much or more time with the other firefighters in your station than your own family.”

In 2000, Lake Tapps Station 22 merged with East Pierce Fire and Rescue, substantially increasing the coverage of all stations absorbed into East Pierce.

Most of the increase in the requirements on the fire departments is attributable to growth in the community.

“(As a volunteer) you came in, filled out an application and get trained,” he said. “That part itself hasn’t changed. You don’t need previous skills and abilities to become a volunteer. The difference is that now East Pierce covers 160-square-miles. That area is a lot more urban, it has more commercial properties, more industrial properties. There’s more calls.

“Now to make a career, there’s a comprehensive testing process, a background check, a written assessment. Thirty-seven years ago we provided basic first aid. Now the medical side has changed.”

Wakefield was honored by his colleagues at a surprise retirement dinner on March 13. A slideshow of his career was shown and Wakefield received several honors, including a bugle, a ceremonial fire axe and a road sign with “Wakefield Way” printed on its face.

In retirement, Wakefield will spend time with his family. He started by going to Illinois at the beginning of April to visit his daughter.

“You sacrifice some of that time because of the job,” he said. “I’ve missed some time I can’t necessarily get back, but I’m going to do my best.”