San Juan Island Fire and Rescue recently welcomed Ian Joujan to the team as one of its newest firefighters.

Joujan was born in Zambia, Africa of missionary parents, but moved back to Tennessee when he was four years old. He has also lived in New Hampshire and in Colorado, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Youth Ministry with a minor in Sound Recording from Colorado Christian University. He met his wife, Jessica, at the university and moved back to San Juan in 2009 after graduation.

Jessica is originally from San Juan Island. Ian is working for her father, Dave Hall, owner of Island Glass. Ian and Jessica have four daughters ranging from 7 years to 8 months, all of whom are or will be home-schooled by their mom. (Ian teaches them math). Ian has friends who are already in the fire department and had been debating joining for a while.

He finally decided that he would try to balance another thing on his plate, and it has worked out well for him and his family. When he is available, he jumps up and answers the call; when he is not, he doesn’t feel badly that he can’t go. He does his best to balance everything.

“People are busy and have time commitments. Don’t worry about it,” says Ian. “It is not as big a deal as you think. Try it out. The training in general is just great stuff to know. It will serve you the rest of your life. If you really enjoy it, like I do, you’ll make time for it.” Ian is already taking classes for his Firefighter 2 classification, and will attend the Fire Training Academy in North Bend, Wash., in a few weeks. Fire and Rescue welcomes all interested men and women ages 16 years and above to drop by the Mullis Street Station and make an appointment to learn about the organization. Ancillary positions are available. Call 378-5334, visit www.sjifire.org, or visit Facebook: “San Juan Island Fire and Rescue” for info.