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Colo. paramedic to head to Afghanistan

By Sally Bridges
The Daily Camera

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — North Metro firefighter Mike Anderson is trading the tranquility of Broomfield for the battlefields of Afghanistan.

A four-year member of the Wyoming National Guard, Anderson has been called for service and will likely deploy for Afghanistan in September. He’ll report for pre-deployment training in Oklahoma on Aug. 2.

On Wednesday, North Metro Fire Rescue District Chief John O’Hayre recognized Anderson’s deployment by placing a Single Blue Star Banner sticker in the windows of North Metro Station 64’s ambulance and fire engine. The stickers signify Anderson’s absence for military service.

“Congratulations. Be safe and take care of yourself,” O’Hayre told Anderson, who gathered Wednesday morning with the members of North Metro Station 64, near the corner of Lowell Boulevard and 136th Avenue. Members of the Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum also attended the informal ceremony to show their support.

“Come back in one piece,” O’Hayre said.

The stickers will remain in place until Anderson’s return.

“I look forward to taking them off,” Anderson said.

Anderson, 32, who’s been a paramedic with North Metro for nine years, joined the Wyoming National Guard to be a flight medic -- a program not offered with Colorado’s National Guard at that time.

He liked the idea of arriving in the heart of a conflict by helicopter rather than by ground.

“It’s much cooler,” he said. “But (my wife) would rather I be uncool at home. She’s apprehensively supportive and obviously scared.”

He will leave behind his wife, Valerie, and dog, Mataya.

Anderson said his training as a firefighter and in the Guard has him well prepared for Afghanistan.

“We deal with a lot of people (in crisis) here,” he said. “Sure it will be different when people are shooting at you, but we’re prepared.”

During Anderson’s absence, his firehouse will be left understaffed. Firefighters will cover his shifts through overtime, O’Hayre said. Firefighters are trained and hired in teams, rather than individually, he said. To train one firefighter to replace Anderson would take about six months and when Anderson returned, the station would be overstaffed, he said.

“We encourage military service,” O’Hayre said. “The downside is obviously we lose him here.”

While in Afghanistan, Anderson is sure he will miss many things.

“Sleeping in. Food. Alone time,” Anderson said. “Time at home. That’s what I’ll miss the most.”

North Metro Fire Rescue firefighter and paramedic Mike Anderson puts a Single Blue Star Banner sticker on an ambulance Wednesday at Station 64 in Broomfield. The sticker signifies that North Metro has a member deployed in military service. Anderson, who also serves with the Wyoming National Guard, is expected to ship out for Afghanistan in September.

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