Firefighter of the Year

Almost nineteen years ago, when Michael Easterling joined the City of Vista Fire Department, he knew that he enjoyed working with people, and he seemed to excel when they needed him the most. “If you truly enjoy what you do, then you never really have to go to work, and I love what I do.” This has been the driving force behind a remarkable career that started as a young man eager to help, and sees him this year being named the firefighter of the year.

      Realizing early on that education had to be a priority, he finished his associate degree in fire science in 1986. Along with his degree and his EMT experience, that helped him gain a spot as a volunteer with the Bostonia Fire Department in 1987. Volunteering made him hungry for more, and in 1988 he entered paramedic school with the UCSD/EMSTO program. He successfully completed the program, and worked as a paramedic in the City of San Diego from 1988-1990.

     1990 saw Mike getting hired with the City of Vista as a firefighter/paramedic, beginning his life long dream of helping others when they needed it the most.  Mike is currently a fire suppression Captain at Station One, but will be moving to Station Six when it opens. Mike has been a firefighter/paramedic, a fire engineer, and began his current role as Captain in 2001.

     Along the way, Mike has held onto some core values that have seen him succeed, and to be able to inspire those around him to success as well. He wants no more than to do the best job he can for those we serve, but also for those his crew. Mike can leave one day knowing he impacted our fire department in a positive manner as well as the community which he serves. Mike truly cares about his crews well being and continuously helps them become successful.  Mike has been heavily involved in new hire testing for many years, helped to rewrite our engineers test, and has been involved in company officer testing for the past six years. He has been both a flight medic and a reserve sheriff flight medic. He has been heavily involved in a North County wide effort along with our local fire departments in rewriting policies to help with safety, search and rescue efforts on fire scenes. 2006 saw perhaps one of Mikes proudest moments professionally when he graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Administration. Mike continues to take fire chief level classes, as well as many classes on updates that make him better at what he does.

     Mike would be the first to tell you that what truly defines him is his role as both husband and father. He has been married since 1994 to Ann Marie, and they have four wonderful children-Josh, Adam, Emily and Michael. Along the way Mike has been involved with his church as well as the community by giving back with his time as coach, umpire, driver and dad. He realizes that the biggest impact and legacy that he will leave with his wife is their children being successful.

     Our firefighter of the year continually gives back to both our organization, his community and family, and it is these traits that help make him the success that he is.