Meet Ship Bottom Firefighter Logan Van Liew

As a kid growing up 3 streets from the Ship Bottom firehouse, Logan Van Liew watched the trucks scream by and dreamed of being on one.

Now 22, Logan completed fire school and earned his firefighter certification earlier this year. Helping his neighbors as a member ofShip Bottom Volunteer Fire Company is better than he even dreamed, he said.

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Even before earning fire certification, Ship Bottom volunteers have important roles on scene. Last summer, when a little boy’s leg was cut open by the fin on his surfboard, Logan was there to help.

“I was at my house getting ready for work (at Ship Bottom Shellfish) and the call came in. Any one of these calls is pretty serious, but when I heard it was a little boy – oh my God. I texted the restaurant. They understood.”

Logan was quickly on a firetruck rushing to Surf City. The injured little boy would need to be airlifted to the hospital. Logan helped set up the landing zone.

Logan set up the flares around the perimeter and made sure there were no plastic bags or other debris that could be sucked up into the helicopter rotors. Other volunteers communicated with the ambulance and the helicopter. When both arrived, Logan and the rest of the team used the sheet the little boy was laying on to lift him from the ambulance stretcher to the helicopter stretcher.

“He was super calm and in good spirits,” Logan said. “I asked how he was feeling, and told him he was doing great.”

And then the helicopter took off. “It sure felt good to help that kid out,” Logan said.

Logan holds a biology degree from the University of Tampa and plans to go to dental school. In addition to cooking at the shellfish restaurant on summer evenings, he works as a dental assistant at his mom’s dental office, All About Smiles.

Whenever he’s home from dental school and after he finishes his degree, Logan plans to remain a Ship Bottom firefighter.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s really fun to be at the firehouse – I’ve met a lot of cool, very nice people. And it’s also exciting. It feels crazy at first to go into a burning building, but you have training, you have equipment, you have the other firefighters, and so you’re confident. It’s a really good feeling to be able to help.”

Ship Bottom Volunteer Fire Company needs volunteers just like you in both emergency and non-emergency roles. Learn more and fill out a volunteer inquiry form: shipbottomfirefighters.org