Wes Schultz

Born and raised in Sacramento, California.  In the early 1950s, I can remember my dad responding to fires as a volunteer fireman with the Arcade Fire District.  I can also remember Santa Claus landing on the roof of Arcade Station 1 – for real! 

Having barely graduated from high school and classified 1Y with the draft,  Mom with all her influence as a ‘Beauty Operator’ got me a job with the California Division of Forestry (CDF) in downtown Weed, California.  That’s when the only safety equipment CDF issued was a tin hat, the rest was up to you. The summer of 1966 and the start of my life in the fire service.

Over the years I went from the CDF as a Forest Fire Truck Driver (FFTD) to the then Arden Fire District in Sacramento County.  Arden Fire District consolidated into the American River Fire which merged into the now Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District(SMFD).   I climbed, promoted and kissed my way up to Assistant Chief, Operations Division.  Not being a political, desk type and wondering how I got there, I requested a reduction in rank to line Battalion Chief, on the ‘B’ Shift.  And got it!  Retired 12/2/2000 as a line Battalion Chief .  Best demotion I ever asked for!

Just before I retired, I started to carry a camera in my duty vehicle taking pictures at emergencies.  Entering the photos in contests, fairs, art shows, I started to win awards and favorable comments.  Firefighter photography came naturally to me.  Over the last several years, I have won national, state, local, and fire service awards for my photographs.  Most of my images have a firefighter in them some place, the fire or emergency is secondary.

I was asked to shoot the California State Firefighter Memorial dedication for the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) – very much an honor as a firefighter.  Have been invited to shoot for USFS NorCal Team II, CDF Teams 1 and 5, California Office of Emergency Services (OES), still shoot for SMFD and have images on CDF and SMFD web sites.  Do volunteer work for Rocklin Fire, CDF Placer County and other fire agencies in Placer County.

You might ask about the ‘Not Now Not Ever’. Whenever people would ask me if I had a computer or email, I would answer, ‘Not Now Not Ever’ will I own a computer.  Now, I shoot only high end digital and can get around PhotoShop fairly well.  Oh, how things change.

Life is too short and I am way too young to play golf – so is Mom!

Enjoy………..                                                                   10/04