Whitman County Rural Fire District 12 Chief Lester Erwin's interest in fire service was first sparked when he was a young boy.
"When I lived in Albion, the fire siren would go off and the chief would go flying by our house, and I would chase after him on my bike," the 56-year-old said. Erwin said he would watch the crews load into their engines and he often followed the trucks if the call was close by. When the chief, Joe Keeney, returned, he would talk with Erwin about the fires.
As Erwin got older, he stopped chasing fire engines with bikes and starting following in his car. During one such excursion, the chief of Whitman County Rural Fire District 12 spotted Erwin and asked why he didn't just volunteer for the department.
Erwin didn't need any convincing.
In 1978, while still in high school, Erwin began volunteering for the district, and did so even after he began working full time at Nichols Concrete, a company he eventually bought in 1986.
Erwin said Pullman's economy was hit hard in 2002 and there wasn't much work for a concrete company, so he went to work for the Pullman School District maintenance and grounds department, where he is still employed.
Erwin said his children, Heather, now 30, and Justin, now 28, were both in school at the time, which was an added draw to the job.
Erwin has a variety of duties with the district, but one of his favorites is making sure the playfields are kept up and ready for games. Erwin said he played football, basketball and ran a variety of events in track while he attended PHS.