When we think of everyday heroes, we often think of those that do so much with little recognition. David Zader is just such a behind the scenes hero.
Zader gave 30 years of service to fighting fires and spent countless hours in dangerous situations. His firefighting days began in high school working as a structural firefighter. While substitute teaching in 1992, He rescued a boy from a fire and later went on to be the same boy’s teacher in school.
After studying at Virginia Tech, working for the U.S. Forestry Service, doing search and rescue at Yosemite National Park from a helicopter, and developing trainings for the National Guard, Zader moved to Boulder and worked as the Wildfire Management Coordinator for 14 years before a work-related injury that ended his active firefighting days. However, this didn’t keep him down as he went on to start a family and do backend intelligence for the recent firefighting work in Colorado this past summer.
According to Zader, everyday heroism starts where you’re at, as he stated: “Working here is no different than where you’re at right now. Stay where you are and make the place you are at be the difference. Because if you are motivated to move across the state for a better job, then you’re motivated to change what the current job looks like.”
This community hero is sponsored by Atmos Energy, a company that is dedicated to giving back to the communities they serve! Thank you Atmos for your compassion for fueling safe and thriving communities.
