By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle
WALDPORT – Charlie Lesiecki checks and installs smoke detectors in homes, helps with commercial fire inspections, and advises landowners how to protect their property from wildland fires.
The 68-year-old retiree heads Central Coast Fire & Rescue’s safety committee, conducting regular inspections of the district’s facilities. He’s also a volunteer firefighter, who shows up when the alarms go off and helps with Lincoln County’s technical rescue team.
For all that work the past nine years, Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple and a contingent from her Salem office surprised Lesiecki on Monday by presenting him with the Oregon 2025 “Golden Sparky” award, the state’s highest honor for leadership in public education and fire prevention efforts.
“This is truly one of the best parts of my job,” said Ruiz-Temple as she announced the award during a ceremony at the district’s headquarters in Waldport.
The award, given out since 1977, has most recently gone to career firefighters in large organizations like the Portland Fire Bureau or an assistant chief in the small eastern Oregon community of Hines.
“But what makes it special this year,” Ruiz-Temple said, “is that it is going to a volunteer.”
Central Oregon Coast Chief Jamie Mason nominated Lesiecki for the award back in February, lauding his commitment to fire prevention and public education.
“As a volunteer firefighter Charlie’s commitment to service is exceptional,” Ruiz-Temple read from Mason’s nomination letter Monday. “His desire to serve even further through fire prevention makes him an irreplaceable asset to our community.”
Decades of volunteering
Volunteering is nothing new for Lesiecki.
He got involved volunteer patrols for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department while working for a large food equipment company in Southern California. He also volunteered as a community emergency response instructor for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
“I felt I needed to do something for the community,” Lesiecki told the Lincoln Chronicle later Monday.
Lesiecki and his wife, Christine, moved to southern Oregon in 2011, where he started volunteering as a firefighter for the Illinois Valley Fire Department and then for Deschutes County Search & Rescue after moving to Bend.
The couple served as campground hosts and volunteers at the Cape Perpetua Visitors Center “and fell in love with the area” before buying a home in the unincorporated area between Yachats and Waldport. He started volunteering with CCF&R in 2015.
“I saw a need for volunteers and to help the community,” Lesiecki said. “All of this is a way to help people to better take care of themselves.”
The state’s top fire volunteer sees himself contributing for years to come “as long as I can …” but says he doesn’t do it for the big, shiny gold trophy that showed up from the state fire marshal’s office Monday.
“It was nice getting the acknowledgement, but that’s not why I do it,” Lesiecki said. “I just wish I could do more. There’s a lot to be done.”
- Quinton Smith is the editor of Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com
