JOHN DAY – Eastern Oregon is a long way from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and even farther from Ramstein, Germany, but new John Day Fire Chief Ted Johnson said he has found a home in Grant County.

Johnson, who worked for the Department of Defense as a firefighter for 33 years before retiring, will take over as the new fire chief Nov. 1.

“My wife and I were looking for a place to retire, and we looked at several states including Colorado, Utah and New Mexico,” Johnson said. “We made a swing through Eastern Oregon and were thinking about settling in Baker City before we camped at Clyde Holliday State Park. We really liked what we saw, so we decided the area around John Day was the place for us.”

Johnson said he spent 28 years as a firefighter at Nellis Air Force Base, attaining the rank of assistant chief, and prior to that he served five years as assistant chief at Ramstein Air Base in Germany where he also was an assistant chief.

“At Ramstein, it was a combined Air Force and Army instillation and over 50,000 United States personnel, both military and civilian, lived and worked there,” he said. “They had a total of seven fire stations and 216 firefighters. At Nellis there were 105 firefighters, and 51 of them were under my command.”

Johnston said when he decided to live in John Day, he talked with several people about wanting to become a volunteer firefighter.

“That’s all I wanted to do – be a volunteer, but when the chief’s position came open, some people called me about taking the position. I applied for it and I was accepted,” he said.

Johnson has already begun his duties, and he is working with firefighters on the force to make some upgrades on the fire hall.