PENDLETON, Ore. — For the Willinghams of Pilot Rock, firefighting is all in the family.
Scott, 46, is a lieutenant firefighter for the Pilot Rock Rural Fire District and a nurse in the emergency department at St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton. His wife, Anita, 42, is the financial officer for the district and a nurse as well.
They passed down those life-saving attitudes to what could be the start of a legacy — their five children.
Liz, 22, is a volunteer Pilot Rock firefighter. Bryan, 20, also is a volunteer Pilot Rock firefighter. Same for 18-year-old Justin.
“Often on a fire now, we’ll make up a quarter of the firefighters,” Scott said.
The twins, Josh and Rachel, 15 — Josh is older by 13 minutes — are junior firefighters and do not go to fires but instead get a bit of the grunt work, such as checking for hot spots afterwards and helping put away equipment. But no one will be surprised if they take firefighting classes at 16 and work their way to full-fledged firefighters two years later.
Scott said he and Anita are all about instilling a sense of community in their children.
“If you keep your kids busy, if you have them involved in community … it will not only make them better people,” he said, “it will make the community a better place.”
The Willingham children echoed that support of community, but it was their love of family that inspired each to follow in their parents’ footsteps.
“As a kid, I was up here all the time with my dad,” Bryan said.
“My dad’s a nurse, and I wanted to see if I liked that,” Liz said. She liked it enough to graduate this year with a nursing degree and now is waiting to take the state test to earn her certification. Justin said seeing his father and older siblings as firefighters sparked something in him as well.
“I got jealous,” he said.
The Willinghams are not just about the department’s training on Thursday nights or jumping on the big red engine to take down a wildland fire. Justin, Josh and Rachel have sports — baseball, softball, track, which the rest of the family follows.
“That’s what we do as a family,” Anita said. “We go and watch each other.”
Bryan is taking college courses to be a diesel mechanic.
Scott also said they find the time to gather for their favorite cable television series, “The Walking Dead.”
The Willinghams are a likable lot and said they are like any family. Sure, they love each other, but they also argue. The teens seek out their own space. And Scott said Rachel, the youngest, is the enforcer.
She glowed at that remark. Raised with three brothers, she said, what else could he expect?
Firefighting is rugged, enduring work, Scott said, and means getting in harm’s way. He said his children are smart about keeping themselves out of dangerous situations, but he cannot spare them from everything on the job.
Bryan, when he was younger, responded at a car versus motorcycle crash. The victim suffered severe injuries, and Bryan helped him. Scott afterward asked his son how he was doing and what he felt about seeing someone suffer such violent trauma.
Scott said Bryan handled it pretty well and told him, “Well, I always wondered what the inside of a knee looked like.”
And Liz has been on the scene of a “code” — when someone is dead or dies. Pain and death are parts of life, Scott said, and parents have to help children learn how to handle those moments. He said they talk it out after and do not let negative feelings stay buried. Rachel said that is one bonus of a larger family.
“If you don’t want to talk you your parents, you always have a sibling or friend to talk to,” she said.
Anita said she is not nearly as nervous as she once was about her children fighting fires or handling violent car crashes. She said she knows how well they train, and she knows the other firefighters. That includes the three generations of Hemphills in the department: Richard Hemphill is division chief, his son is Fire Capt. Jeff Hemphill, and his two stepchildren also volunteer in the department.
Anita said all of that is reassuring to her, and the department members feel like one big family in many ways.
But Anita still is the first person Scott and the clan call when they get back to the fire house.
