Jackson fire chief wanted a job where he could make a difference

Raised in Cape Girardeau County, Jason Mouser traded in a suit for turnout gear in 1997 when he became a part-time firefighter at the Jackson Fire Department. Two years later, Mouser made the decision to join the department full time and make it his career. Formerly employed at his father's car dealership, Mouser says he brings business experience to his position as chief, which he began in July 2007. The department, Mouser said, is only as good as the people who work for it, and he says he feels fortunate to be supervising a hard-working bunch of firefighters.

Q: Why did you want to make firefighting your career?

A: My dad, actually, he was one of the organizers of the Millersville Fire District out in the county, so I'd always hang around him whenever they were doing things with the department there. A friend of mine, who was part time on the fire department at the time, he just needled me until I joined. I really enjoyed what the fire department was all about, and when an opening came up I jumped on it. I'm glad I did.

Q: Tell me about your first few years as a full-time firefighter.

A: The training is such a big part of the fire service, because it changes so fast. There was a lot of training I went through just to learn what's all involved. When somebody decides or thinks they've had all the training they need is when they should think about getting out of the fire service, because it changes so fast. The first three years I just continued training. When I started full time is about when we started first response and medical calls, so a lot of us were getting trained in that. I think last year alone the total training hours for personnel was well over 4,000 hours, just because of all the added responsibilities.

Q: Did you feel you were prepared to be chief and had good experience?

A: We were fortunate to have three or four candidates within the department who had a wide range of experience and training. I probably had less fire experience than some of the other candidates, but I felt [someone] in this role had to have some business knowledge. The fact I come from the car dealership and [helped my father] with that business helped me prepare for this, too. Working with annual budgets, I had that preparation, too.

Q: Do you go on every call?

A: I don't, that's probably the one thing that I miss the most is not making all the calls. When I got into the fire service that's really what drove me, feeling like I'm making a difference ... responding to somebody who could be having their worst moment in life and making a difference to them.

Q: What's difficult about this profession?

A: We've had several fires that have involved fatalities. Those are always the hard ones to deal with. One this past year, there wasn't a whole lot of fire, but the smoke was so thick in there, when we were able to get the person out she was as black as my computer monitor. Those are the ones that are satisfying, though, when you know what would've happened in another couple of minutes if you hadn't gotten the person out.

Q: Do you have any goals for the department?

A: I would like to see the city as well as the state follow suit with some others and adopt the residential fire sprinkler code. There are so many myths and misconceptions that seem to slow this national push. However, when everyone looks at the facts they will see that [sprinklers] will pay for themselves as many insurers offer discounts of 10 percent to 30 percent off homeowners insurance if sprinklers are installed in the home, not to mention, more importantly, reducing your chances of dying in a home fire by 85 percent. Studies have shown that 93 percent of all fires are handled by one sprinkler head. Also, there's a need for expansion in the fire service, like another fire station, which would mean more personnel. We'd like to update equipment. We've made progress updating through grants and we'll continue to look for ways to update the apparatus. Hopefully we can see a second station, maybe by the end of my career a third station if I'm fortunate enough to still be with the city.

Q: What has changed the most in this field?

A: The technology has come so far, including the safety of the equipment, especially the turnout gear. When I started we were kind of known throughout the county as the only department who had red gear. It was cool, but the material, you could hold a match to it and it would turn black and it would break apart. Now, the gear's come so far; it won't even turn black. The breathing apparatus we use has really come a long way. The addition of thermal imaging cameras has been a big addition to the fire service. In the case where we need to search for a victim it triples the speed we're able to get through the house.

Q: What do you do for enjoyment outside of work?

A: I have three daughters; I'm watching them grow up. They play every sport in the book. Spending time with family. We barbecue or lay by the pool. That's the biggest thing -- following the kids and their sporting events. I do also enjoy riding four wheelers and spending time at my dad's farm when I get a chance.

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