'Service above self': Smith is business manager by day, firefighter by night

SHERIDAN - Sheridan County School District 1 Business Manager Jeremy Smith's entire life has been geared towards "service above self," so it made sense to him to become a volunteer firefighter.

Smith has been the business manager for SCSD1 for 22 years while also serving 20 years as a volunteer firefighter for the Dayton Fire and Rescue team, and has been one of many fighting the Elk Fire while holding down a fulltime job.

Smith got back from hunting mid-morning Sept. 29 and was paged to go to the fire hall at around 3 p.m., where he and other volunteers were informed of the situation and the possibility of being called to go help. When Smith was paged at around 5:30 p.m. to go help, he did not think much of it other than it being time to go to work.

"I've been in the department for almost 20 years, so it's just what you do. It's what I signed up for, right? It's to go help when it was needed, and so when we got the call to go help on Pass Creek and East Pass Creek, we just went," Smith said. "I guess you don't really think about it, you know? You don't have a reaction other than, 'Okay, this is what's next. This is what you do. This is the order of things.'"

Smith spent a total of eight days helping in the Elk Fire. Spending the first seven days in the Tongue River area and then spending one day toward Big Goose and Big Horn, he was on various trucks and worked different capacities such as structure protection, Smith said.

While Smith was helping on the Elk Fire on eight to 10 hour shifts, he was juggling the volunteer role with his responsibility as the district's business manager, going to work for school district 1 until noon and taking the role of a firefighter until 8 or 10 p.m.

Smith gives credit to his team at the school district 1 business office for making it easier for him to be able to go out and help in the fire.

"I have a great crew here at the business office," Smith said. "The accounting techs that we have that work with me, they're awesome and so they bore a little of the burden and each took a little bit more (of work) so that I could go play fireman for a week."

Smith's children once asked him if he was ever scared while helping with the Elk Fire. To him, it was all about focusing on the tasks at hand.

"I don't remember a time where I felt panicked, anxious or worried. It was really much more about focusing on the tasks at hand," Smith said. "There was some frustration that we were getting beat by the fire at times, (and) you certainly feel this sort of physical exertion... I think it's because we just train for this stuff, and we work well as a team."

Although Smith and the fire department have helped out on grass fires such as the Sheep Creek Fire in 2015, Smith said the Elk Fire far exceeds anything he has been a part of in the department.

"Mostly what we do are car accidents, medical calls, some structure and some wildland fires, mostly grass fires, but this is a whole other level of experience for us," Smith said. "We train for these things, and we practice and hope it never comes, but I don't think you're ever prepared for something at this scale."

SCSD1 Superintendent Jeff Jones said Smith is someone who goes out of his way for people on a regular basis and doesn't seek recognition because of it.

"His willingness to go up on the mountain in the middle of the night and continue fighting the fire for long hours is something I admire in him and all of the other firefighters, first responders and even land wonders. They are heroes in my mind," Jones said.

Other school district 1 employees who have also been helping in the Elk Fire are Tongue River Elementary fifth grade teacher Russ Wilde, Tongue River Middle School physical education teacher Ryan Alley, Transportation Director Steven Ross, bus driver Steve Jones, bus driver Dave Blakeman and TRMS sixth grade teacher Scott Shroder.

Wilde serves on the Dayton Fire and Rescue, Alley is the Dayton Fire training officer, Ross is on the Ranchester Volunteer Fire Department, Jones serves on the Dayton Fire, as well as Shroder.

This story was published Oct. 15, 2024.