Keeping the Valley safe: North Bend’s Robert Venera named best firefighter

Published 5:51 pm Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Voted best in his field by readers in the 2011 Best of the Valley poll, North Bend’s Bob Venera is beginning his 25th year as a firefighter. Born at the now-vanished Nelms Hospital in Snoqualmie, Venera graduated from Mount Si High School in 1981.

“I needed a job, and there was family history in the fire service,” said Venera, who answered questions about his role:

What’s your public impact?

We work with the public every day. It’s pretty much all we work with. The fire department certainly impacts the public in their time of need. We do other things that people probably don’t realize… blood pressure checks at the Senior Center, fire inspections at all businesses (around 350), and fire drills at the schools with the kids. About 80 percent of our calls are for first aid.

What are the most serious things you respond to?

This is a very safe town from a firefighter’s perspective. Two types of calls tend to keep you on edge though. One is car wrecks because of the other drivers going by. The other is severe windstorms and trees that are breaking. Both are very dangerous.

What does this recognition mean for you?

What I’m proud about is, actually, all the firefighters. All of us want to do a good job and help the citizens in their time of need.