Al Gerard is a resident of the Dexter Fire District and has lived here since moving to Oregon in 1991. Since 1991 he has been an “on again – off again” volunteer under 3 different fire chiefs with Dexter Fire. As a fulltime Firefighter/Paramedic and then later promoting into the Fire Marshal’s Office in Springfield he withdrew from volunteering with Dexter due to scheduling conflicts. That is, as Fire Marshal in Springfield he was on-call 24/7 – 365 days per year and could not respond reliably with Dexter. In 2017 he retired from the City of Springfield after 26 years; with 23 of those years in the Fire Marshal’s Office. He then reactivated as a volunteer with the Dexter Fire District.  Gerard’s rank and duties at retirement from Springfield were that of the Deputy Fire Chief/Fire Marshal for the cities of Eugene and Springfield. Gerard started his career in public service as an Emergency Medical Attendant with the British Columbia Ambulance Service in 1983. He then moved to Los Angeles, California in 1986 and started work as an EMT for a private ambulance company. After working in California for a private ambulance provider for 6 months he attended Paramedic Training and achieved the certification of EMT – Paramedic in Los Angeles County. Following that he became a Firefighter/Paramedic for the City of Oceanside Fire Department in San Diego County. In 1991 he relocated his family to Dexter and worked for the Springfield Department of Fire and Life Safety where he held the rank of Firefighter/Paramedic, then Deputy Fire Marshal, and finally as a Deputy Fire Chief responsible for the Fire Marshal’s Office. In 2010 when the Cities of Eugene and Springfield merged, he assumed the role as City Fire Marshal for both Cities. Gerard has multiple certifications through FEMA, The International Code Council, NFPA, the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training and the Oregon State Fire Marshals Office.