Meet Your Team

I began my career with Graham Fire & Rescue January 1st, 1999.  At the time I was hired, I was our 21st employee and we had one career station and four volunteer stations.  Meridian had very few commercial establishments on it and areas like Frederickson hadn’t really been discovered yet.  Today I look around and am amazed at what I see in the Graham area.  Our population continues to increase as more housing developments, commercial establishments and schools are now in our area.  As our community continues to grow so has our department.  We now have almost 70 career fire fighters staffing five stations and a dedicated group of volunteers that cover our sixth station.  Things have certainly changed over the last twenty years and will continue to do so.  One thing that hasn’t changed are the great group of men and women that make up your fire department.  I enjoy going to work because of the people I get to work with and the opportunity we have to positively impact our community.  Our community is important to me as I live in the Graham area so this is my community, these are the schools my kids attend and these are the people I interact with.

When I’m not at work I enjoy spending time with my wife, my son and my daughter.  I enjoy supporting my kids school and athletic events and sports in general.  I love playing golf and our family camping trips to places that are sunny and warm.

My name is Thad Richardson, a Lieutenant with Graham Fire & Rescue. I began working for Graham in 2005, the same year that I moved my family to the Silver Creek neighborhood from Tacoma. I began my career as a volunteer at Station 95 in Frederickson and have witnessed firsthand the tremendous population growth throughout Fire District 21. I am proud to serve the citizens of this vibrant community. I enjoy hiking, cycling, running and swimming with my wife and family in my free time.

Drip and Torch have been part of the team since 2016. They enjoy eating grass and shrubs at Station 96 – The Goat House.

As a Volunteer Firefighter (now Lieutenant) with Graham Fire & Rescue for over 25 years, our community matters to me. Primarily supporting the south end of the district in Kapowsin, I know the people who live here. My wife and I reside in the area, and our children attended school here.

I am proud to be a member of Graham Fire & Rescue, and appreciate and respect the dedicated men and women who put their lives on the line every single day for this community. I have devoted my life to supporting them and the community in any way I can. By responding to house fires, medical calls and brush fires, delivering holiday meals to families in need, and driving the fire engine to local school events, on Santa Runs, in the Daffodil Parade and 4th of July Parade, is how I demonstrate my support. Being there when I am needed, day or night, rain or shine, is what I do.

I started my journey with Graham Fire & Rescue back in December 2007. I volunteered for the district until December 2014 when I was hired as a career Firefighter/Paramedic. Through the years I have watched the department grow in call volume, fire stations, and personnel. The people at Graham Fire truly have a family mentality and a strong desire to serve the community. Born and raised in Graham, it has been a dream to serve the community that I grew up in.

Growing up I always knew that I wanted to serve the community in some way. In part, this was developed from my family atmosphere. My Grandfather served in multiple branches for a total of 35 years of military service. If he had his way, I would have joined the Air Force, but he was still proud of the path that I have chosen. My father also served in the Air Force and my Mom is a nurse. So, service has always been in my heart. What a better way to serve your community than being a first responder and truly going to work every day excited to make a difference. My daily goal is to make someone’s worse day of their life possibly a little better, and make a difference. It is also a way of saying thank you to the community that I grew up in.

When not at work, I reside in the Grand Firs community with my wonderful family. I have been married to my wife, Amber, for almost 8 years. We have two young kids and look forward to raising them in this community. In our free time we enjoy going to our family’s ocean house, and spending time in the outdoors. Some of the hobbies I enjoy are hiking, woodworking, and golfing.

Being a firefighter in the community I live in is a great honor.  To help and support friends, family, and all other community members in times of hardship as well as happiness makes my passion for this line of work grow stronger.  Seeing someone’s eyes light up as they recognize myself or another crew member, and hearing them say, “Thank you for helping me” warms my heart in knowing that we could help.  I also find it rewarding to be able to encourage the children that cross our paths to dream big and work hard.  They too can aspire to become anything they put their hearts to.  It is a great feeling of accomplishment knowing that I can be a role model for their future.  I am so grateful and proud to be able to serve in the community I live in, working alongside such amazing, dedicated, and hard-working men and women of Graham Fire and Rescue.