Longtime chief knows value of hard work

The Daily Inter Lake

To Dave Sipe, the key to success is simple: Figure out what you want, then work hard to get it.

"You don't get anything unless you work for it," he said. "If you're going to make your mark, you've got to work for it."

Sipe, 58, has been making his mark with the Whitefish Fire Department for the last 28 years. He began his career after a firefighter looking for volunteers approached him on the street.

"He stopped me, and I thought, sure," Sipe said with a noncommittal shrug.

It wasn't long before his "why not" attitude turned into love for the job. After an interview and training, Sipe became a full-fledged volunteer.

He eventually became the volunteer fire chief and finally, in 1995, the city decided to make his a paid, full-time position.

"I think my true calling was in the fire business," he said.

HE DIDN'T discover this calling until he was 30 years old, though.

Sipe grew up in the Flathead Valley and attended schools in Evergreen and Kalispell.

When he wasn't in school, he was working.

His first job was at a nursery; as a seventh-grader he made 35 cents an hour. He shoveled snow in the winter and mowed lawns during the summer.

"I can't ever remember ever being out of work," he said.

His work ethic stemmed from losing his father to a brain tumor when Sipe, the second of seven brothers, was only 10. His youngest brother, Kevin, was just a couple of months old.

To help their mother support the family, the older brothers got jobs. The experience ingrained in Sipe the value of hard work.

"I look back on that as a pretty good lesson on my life," he said.

He continued his odd jobs as a teenager, and after he graduated from Flathead High School, he went to work at Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. as a janitor.

It was during this time that Sipe began volunteering for the fire department.

When Montana Aluminum Investors Corp. bought the plant in 1985, Sipe took the buyout and went to work as a car salesman at De Pratu Ford.

"I grew up here and knew so many people. I'm a people person anyway, so I found it enjoyable," he said.

While he was selling cars, Sipe's responsibility with the fire department increased.

He became volunteer chief and served in that capacity until the city hired him as a full-time employee.

Not long after, Sipe hired the city's first two full-time firefighters. Now Whitefish has 10 paid firefighters and 18 volunteers, all of whom are constantly called out, Sipe said.

During his first year as a volunteer, the fire department had about 260 calls.

"And we thought we were busy," Sipe said, laughing.

Now, he said, Whitefish gets nearly that many calls each month. There have already been more than 2,000 calls this year.

Even so, Sipe said his generation of firefighters likes to talk about how hard they worked when they were younger and how much they had to do.

"Still, it's not even close to what we ask them to do today," he said. "It's taxing on the volunteers. They have lives, too, and I understand this."

His sympathy comes from experience.

Late-night and holiday calls and wildland fires often called him away from his wife, Jennifer, and their four children.

"It was tough on my family when it was younger," he said. "That was honestly a real hardship to my family. I have probably the most tolerant wife in the world."

Although he says his age makes it harder than it used to be to stay up all night and work the next day, Sipe still responds to those late-night calls with the rest of the department.

"It's my job. It's what I've got to do," he said. "If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be here, and I truly like the fire business."

THERE ARE things he doesn't like.

One duty as chief is enforcing fire codes, a job that's becoming increasingly challenging as more people build homes in hard-to-access places.

Harder still are the times when fire suppression isn't enough, and people lose homes, property or their lives.

"You become well-acquainted with death, because that's your job and you deal with it." He paused, then added quietly, "Children are the hardest."

But that's why he does what he does.

"I used to think it was the adrenaline rush, but I love the feeling I get," he said. "It's truly a lifesaving job."

Fighting fire is also a way for Sipe to express his gratitude to the area he's lived in all his life.

"I think we owe our community, and this is my way of getting that done," he said.

But after nearly three decades of service, Sipe is beginning to think of hanging up his helmet.

"It's exciting and worthwhile, but when the time comes to retire, I'll be ready," he said.

Then he laughed. "I say I'll retire after 30 years, but I have a feeling I won't want to leave. Other people have told me that, too."

But perhaps, after a lifetime of work, Sipe will be ready to take time to enjoy what he's worked so hard for.

"To get the things you want, you better be willing to work," he said. "I don't have everything I want, but I'm close."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com