City Council Communication
Ashland Fire & Rescue
Retirement Of Engineer Dan Saurman

February 4, 2003

Submitted by: Keith E. Woodley, Fire Chief

On December 14, 1976, Dan Saurman began his fire service career serving the citizens of Ashland as a paid firefighter with the Ashland Fire Department. Dan was born in Burbank, California in September 1949, and later attended high school in Verdugo Hills in Sunland. Dan enlisted in the US Navy in 1970 and was assigned to the USS Camden as a radar operator. Following his honorable discharge he continued to serve in the US Navy Reserve for many years. He graduated from college at Los Angeles Valley Junior College i.q Van Nuys in 1975. His eady employment years saw work as a forklift operator in a loods warehouse in Los Angeles.

In September of 1996 Dan and his sweetheart, Lark, made the decision to move to Oregon with their three children. Dan gained employment as a mill worker for Cascade Wood Products in White City. It is interesting to note that his application for employment with the City of Ashland indicated he would be interested in work as either a police officer or firefighter. Fortunately for our department, he chose firefighting as his career. There is something about Dan walking around with a loaded gun that makes one feel uneasy. (just kidding)

Over the last twenty-six years, Dan has become a well-known and familiar face to the citizens of the community. His good-natured personality and kind-heartedness has endeared him to those he associates with. He has served our department in the capacities of Firefighter and Engineer. Dan is single-handedly responsible for the elaborate mapping system that we have in place today that assists our personnel in quickly locating emergencies. Few people have the focus and concentration that such detailed work requires. Dan has many skills and abilities that have resulted in the reduction of operating costs for the fire department.

Dan completed his 26th year of service to the citizens of Ashland on December 14, 2002. He officially retired from the fire department on January 31, 2003. We honor him for his contribution to our department and community. He is an important part of the history of our organization and we will miss him. We are grateful to his devoted wife, Lark, for sharing him with us for so long. We recognize and appreciate the sacrifice that she and the family have made to support Dan in his career for so many years. We now return Lark's husband to her with our thanks for the privilege of having associated with him over the many years he has served his community. We wish him well.