Sometimes two decades of service to your community can begin with one simple, seemingly casual decision. For The Daily World’s selection of Firefighter of the Year for 2017, that decision was to join the Brady Volunteer Fire Department.

“To be honest, I could not tell you exactly why I decided to join,” said Josh Ambrose, a volunteer with Fire District 2 stationed in Central Park. “I had a couple of friends volunteering out of Brady and I figured it was a good way to give back to the community, so I figured let’s just do it and see how it goes.”

So far, it’s gone 20 years and a couple of months, during which time he has steadily taken on more responsibilities and put in a great deal of time for the fire district while holding down a full-time job with the city of Hoquiam as a Public Works crew lead.

Ambrose grew up in Brady, where his parents and a grandfather still live. He started as a volunteer with the Brady fire station in 1997 before moving to the Central Park station around the year 2000. If stability is any sign of commitment, he has been at both his job with the city of Hoquiam and with Fire District 2 for 20 years.

On top of the job, and the daily business of volunteer firefighting — which includes calls and training — he is currently the training officer for Fire District 2. His chief, Leonard Johnson, reckons Ambrose logs 50-60 hours per month between all of his duties; during busier months in the first half of the year, when the training begins in earnest, Johnson figures that number could climb much higher.

“He does the training for all the new recruits, for District 2 and also District 7,” said Johnson. “He is also a very consistent responder and an EMT and IV tech.”

Ambrose admits he’d “probably be scared if I added it all up,” but figures on average “on top of calls and drills, doing planning, I’d say I put in 10-20 hours a month (on training).”

Fire district training programs combine elements from national and international training guidelines, but allow for flexibility so districts can form a training program that best instructs a current class of recruits for what they may face in the field within the district.

“We also develop our own criteria, especially since we are dealing with volunteers,” said Ambrose. “We have to massage the training elements to make it work for the average volunteer who also works a day job.”

Why did Ambrose choose to go through all it takes to become a volunteer firefighter, then take on the huge task of training new recruits?

“I guess it was partly because I had some prodding on different levels in my 20 years in the district,” he said. “Or I’d go to trainings and they’d need help with this or that.”

Ambrose has taken it all on and, according to his peers, excelled. He figures he owes the department and district that.

“Someone had to teach me,” he said. “I figured if I had the capability to teach someone I could help out, and it’s my way of volunteering to my community.”

Brady firefighter Frank Scherer has known Ambrose for much of his life.

“His dad works for Quigg Brothers with me, so I’ve known him since he was a young man,” he said. “He’s always been a standup hard worker. Josh has earned this every step of the way as far as I’m concerned. He won’t ask anyone to do something he wouldn’t do himself.”

Scherer says everything from organizing to performing the training and the large amount of paperwork that goes along with it falls primarily on Ambrose.

“He knows what the training requirements are, puts the training calendar together for the year, and keeps track of the paperwork to make sure everybody is up to date on their training,” said Scherer, who won this award himself in 2012.

Cheryl Thompson, a District 2 firefighter and EMT also out of Central Park, has known Ambrose for a quarter century and has also taught alongside him.

“I think he’s very passionate about teaching and about having people perform to the level they need to perform to take care of their patients,” she said. “He also has enough strength to build these peoples’ confidence up and feel they are able to complete whatever task they need to do.”

Thompson, a 25-year veteran volunteer, added that she has watched him grow and mature over these last 20 years and hopes she has been able to inspire him “as a mother figure kind of — sometimes he calls me mom” — and help turn him into the man he is today.

“He is a really good kid,” she said. “He has a very good work ethic and a positive attitude, and isn’t just a great teacher, he’s a great student.”

Ambrose is quick to point out that he “can’t do this job alone. It takes a team to pull it off. I get great support from my leadership right down to the new firefighter. I have always said a fire or EMS call doesn’t care if you are a career or volunteer firefighter, you need to be knowledgeable at your profession.”

Larry Willis, Captain of the Brady Fire Station, first met Ambrose when they came up at the station at about the same time.

“He certainly has done a lot, and has really ramped it up the last several years with the recruit classes,” said Willis. “When he came in he was one who was always aggressive, just wanting to get in on the action and not afraid to jump in on any and all calls.”

Ambrose is also heavily involved with Homeland Security Region 3, which includes Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston counties. Ambrose was at Emergency Operations Center training April 12. An emergency operations center is a central command and control facility responsible for disaster management functions at a strategic level during an emergency.

“For instance, when we had the big slide and flood in Hoquiam in 2015 they came down and managed cleanup and assisted the counties and cities,” said Ambrose. “They provide one point of contact to coordinate the response to dealing with situations like that.”

After two decades with the district, Ambrose paused when he was asked to list some of the mentors he’s had over the years.

“The ones that pop into my head? One would be our current Deputy Chief Frank Scherer,” said Ambrose. “Another one is Cheryl Thompson, and probably our current Fire Chief Leonard Johnson. He’s really instrumental on giving us direction, and giving me room to grow and do my own thing.”

The Daily World’s Firefighter of the Year recognition is given annually in honor of Cosmopolis volunteer firefighter Denny York, who died after an industrial accident at the Cosmopolis Weyerhaeuser pulp mill in 1986.