From his first fire call to 3 Crabs Road as a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter to his last off Palo Verde Loop in mid-July, Derrell Sharp, 50, has been a fixture in Sequim fire and medical responses for three decades.

“When I was a young boy, my grandfather told me that one of the best things I could do in life was to find a job I loved to go to (and) he assured me that if I could do that, I’d never work a day in my life,” Sharp said. “He was right!”

Now he’s pursuing a passion in community paramedicine as the City of Port Angeles Fire Department’s new assistant fire chief of operations and EMS, after 30 years with Clallam County Fire District 3 in Sequim.

“I believe strongly in community paramedicine; it’s an area the fire service is well equipped to provide for the community,” Sharp said.

He was honored in May for his work in community paramedicine by Clallam County Fire District 3 Fire Chief Ben Andrews for working with a resident who called 9-1-1 about 180 times in 2020 and about 150 times earlier this year. Sharp persisted to help find help for the Sequim resident, who is now being cared for in a skilled nursing facility.

Part of Sharp’s new duties include overseeing the Port Angeles Fire Department’s Community Paramedicine program to help improve health outcomes for heavy users of the 9-1-1 system.

He’ll work in partnership with Rediscovery, an arrest and jail alternatives program where social workers and Port Angeles police work together to reduce 9-1-1 calls, emergency room visits and encounters with law enforcement.

Sharp replaces Assistant Chief Keith Bogues, a Port Angeles Fire Department veteran who retired earlier this year. Bogues contacted Sharp earlier this year about applying.

Sharp had been Fire District 3’s medical safety officer since 2015, managing the department’s EMS system and safety program, establishing training, maintaining certifications, purchasing equipment and more.

“I wasn’t looking to leave, but the door of opportunity opened up,” he said. “I gave it to the Lord, and trusted him with the outcome.”

Life saver

Leaving Fire District 3 was not an easy decision, Sharp said, particularly because he credits a former district leader for saving his life.

At age 23, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He recalls test results looking favorable, so he was opting not to have treatment. However, retired fire chief Tom Lowe called him into his office and took Sharp to see Rick Kaps — Sharp’ssformer basketball coach and “hero” — at Sequim High School. Sharp had played for Kaps from 1988-1990 and was on the state tourney squad in his junior year.

“Rick told me ‘You’re smarter than this’, so I went for full treatment and got surgery, chemotherapy, the full process, and I was off (work) for four months,” Sharp said.

“Chief Lowe supported it. He was one that saved my life. He was just more than a boss.

“Good leaders see their personnel as the most valuable assets.”

Sharp also shares praise for Assistant Chief Tony Hudson for his “continuous encouragement, support, mentoring and friendship” over 30 years.

He also thanks retired Fire Chief Steve Vogel, who encouraged him to pursue being a paramedic and for “sincere support through the years.”

“I am truly grateful to all the department members, past and present, for their support and friendship through the years,” Sharp said. “They will always be a part of my family.”

Compassion

Sharp started volunteering at Fire District 3’s Dungeness station in 1991 following his mother’s prompt to meet Lowe and become a volunteer. Two years later, he became a career firefighter.

But the moments first leading him to become a firefighter came at age 11 after seeing firefighters help his sister, he said.

“On July 11, 1982, my sister Casey Anderson suffered a broken neck from a diving accident and was instantly paralyzed from the neck down,” he said.

Sharp didn’t see her strike the pool’s bottom, but “something in my gut caused me to rush over to where she was floating face down in the water.”

“I rolled her over, dragged her to the side of the pool and lifted her up to my uncle,” he said.

“The Richland Fire department arrived, quickly went to work treating and stabilizing her cervical spine injury and rapidly transported her to Cadillac Hospital.”

He rode in the patient compartment of the ambulance to the hospital and that’s when Sharp said he “first observed excellence and compassion in emergency medical services.”

“I attribute much of my sister’s full recovery to the care she received in the field by those well trained and compassionate paramedic practitioners,” he said.

Derrell Sharp stands with his grandmother Roma after he graduated from the Washington State Fire Academy in 1992. She encouraged Derrell to meet then-Fire Chief Tom Lowe a year prior to become a volunteer firefighter. Photo courtesy of Derrell Sharp

A career

In Feb. 1992, Sharp borrowed $3,500 from his sister to attend the Washington State Fire Academy in North Bend and a few months later served as a “Sleeper Firefighter” with Clallam County Fire District 3, requiring a minimum of 36 hours on duty with career staff.

“I would spend as many nights and weekends as possible riding with the duty crew and learning as much as I could from the seasoned veterans,” Sharp said.

He tested at other fire departments before an opening came in Sequim; he started officially as a career firefighter on May 1, 1993.

Two years later, he used vacation and compensation time and traded shifts with other firefighters to attend paramedic training at Tacoma Community College, and was promoted to paramedic/firefighter in August 1996. Sharp was promoted to lieutenant in 2002, and captain of A-shift in 2007.

During his tenure at Fire District 3, Sharp said staff increased from one firefighter and two paramedics at one station on duty 24/7 to there being more stations, firefighters, a fire inspector, a maintenance division and 12 line staff per shift.

“I’ve observed over a 400 percent increase in fire department calls for service over the last 30 years,” he said.

Over that span, he’s also seen Sequim grow with more stores, homes and people along with more safety provisions with sprinkler systems, more stringent outdoor burning regulations and prevention programs at Sequim High School.

From when he started as a volunteer, Sharp said he’s “witnessed a significant increase in the training and certification requirements for volunteers to remain active.”

“Today’s volunteer firefighters and (Emergency Medical Technicians) are truly dedicated professionals that make significant sacrifices to serve their community,” he said.

Just after high school, Derrell Sharp began his pursuit to become a full-time firefighter in Dungeness. He’s spent the last 30 years with Clallam County Fire District 3. “I am truly grateful to all the department members, past and present, for their support and friendship through the years,” Sharp said. “They will always be a part of my family.” Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Looking back

Over his 30 years, Sharp hopes he’s had a positive impact on multiple areas, including trauma prevention, wildland firefighter training and development, incident management team participation and various other trainings.

“I hope my biggest contribution would simply be the maintaining of a positive attitude and an enthusiastic spirit throughout the years,” he said.

Sharp said he’s honored to join the Port Angeles Fire Department and will definitely miss his Fire District 3 brothers and sisters.

“They have been my family for over 30 years and have helped fashion me into the man I am today,” he said.

“But the change will be good for the organization and will open up opportunities for advancement and continued leadership development.

For more information on volunteering with Clallam County Fire District 3, call 360-683-4242 or email to volunteer@ccfd3.org.

More about Sharp

He and his family moved to Sequim in the early 1980s from the Columbia Basin where his parents farmed.

His grandfather, Derrell Home Sharp was a Prisoner of War in the Philippines during World War II. He lost his right arm and was liberated more than three years later and eventually became a farmer in Pasco. Sharp said his grandfather eventually sold the farm to his son, (Sharp’s father) D. Edward Sharp II before retiring to Moses Lake and then Sunland in Sequim with his wife Roma

Sharp’s parents went on to open Sequim Pest and Maintenance Company, his dad taught agriculture at Sequim High School and held a maintenance contract for Dominion Terrace.

Sharp recalls mowing lawns at age 12 and only being allowed to play one sport each year, so he chose basketball.

Now, his wife Rachel is the Sequim High Cheer Coach and the Port Angeles/Sequim Gymnastics Assistant Coach. They have three daughters, Emma, 18, Gracie, 17, and Susannah, 15.

Emma starts at Washington State University this fall looking to serve in law enforcement as a Behavioral Analyst, while Gracie starts her senior year and Susannah her sophomore year at Sequim High.

All three daughters received invitations to compete at the USA High School Clay Target League National Championships in Mason, Michigan with other Sequim High School Trap team members, Sharp said.

Retired Fire Chief Tom Lowe with Clallam County Fire District 3 stands with Derrell Sharp after his graduation from the Washington State Fire Academy in 1992. Photo courtesy of Derrell Sharp