Every day when he came to work, Mount Vernon firefighter Eric Tyree would thank his assistant chief, Jerry Banta.
“I love my job,” Tyree said. “He’s the one who called and offered me the job.”
Banta, who worked for the Mount Vernon Fire Department between 1973 and 1999 and was known for his passion for training firefighters, died Wednesday. He was 74. Not only was Banta the one who hired Tyree, he was also responsible for some of his training.
Training was Banta’s passion. In the early 1990s, he started a Skagit County firefighting recruit training program, the first to bring firefighters from all departments together.
“He worked really well with all the local fire departments,” Mount Vernon Fire Battalion Chief Mark Malone said. “He was really well respected and did a great job.”
Banta was also instrumental in the construction of the training tower at Skagit Valley College that bears his name.
“Without his efforts in Skagit County, we wouldn’t have this training facility,” said Davide Skrinde, Fire District 14 chief and professor in the college’s fire science program. “He was very passionate about training.”