Keith Taylor
ARFF Training Coordinator/ Officer Development Instructor.
Keith has been in the fire/EMS service since 1981, starting in the USCG and served in varied duties including rescue, firefighting and drug enforcement at variety of duty stations for 6 1/2 years. He started with the Port of Seattle Fire Department in 1990, and has recently achieved the rank of Lieutenant. Keith has been with Big Bend Community College since 1998, first as a instructor before taking over the responsibilities of program coordinator in 2000. Keith is also an active member of Northwest Disaster Search Dogs (www.ndsd.net) and along with his yellow Lab "Boone" is working towards several FEMA certifications. Married with two children, he also has interests in dog training, golf and snow skiing.
Ron Jenson
ARFF Hazardous Materials and ARFF Truck Class Instructor
Ron has enjoyed being a part of the fire service for the last 20 years, and is currently a firefighter with the Seattle Fire Department serving on the Hazardous Materials Response Team. He has 14 years Aircraft Rescue and firefighting experience with the United States Air Force and the Port of Moses Lake at the Grant County Airport. Ron has NFPA and IFSAC certifications as a Fire Officer I, Fire Instructor I, and Airport Firefighter, along with being a Hazardous Materials Technician. Ron is the instructor for the Dangerous Goods Portion of the class and has 9 years of instructional experience at the Live Fire Training Facility. Ron's easy-going personality and helpful attitude is an asset to our program. Ron lives in Lacey Washington with his wife and daughter and enjoys traveling, camping, and fishing.
Brian Waldron
ARFF Aircraft Familiarization and ARFF Truck Class Instructor.
Brian has been in the fire service since 1977, starting as a volunteer with the Bellevue Fire Department and has been a career Firefighter with the Port of Seattle Fire Department for 25+ years now. He has been our Aircraft Familiarization instructor for the BBCC courses for four years, and brings an extensive personal knowledge as well as a “real world” approach to these technical subjects. He has put a lot of his own personal time into the study of commercial aircraft, and is always open to new ideas and approaches that will add to his class. Brian believes that safe ARFF firefighting comes from knowledge of the inherent hazards and special considerations posed to the Firefighter when responding to an aircraft emergency. Anything with technology interests him, from aircraft, motor sports and bicycling to the latest electronic technology. Brian has over 120,000 miles (on BMW’s he likes to add) riding across the USA several times, and throughout Europe by motorcycle. His other interests include travel, music, and golf.
Jack Zeilinga
ARFF Truck Class Coordinator and ARFF 5 day Training Instructor
Jack has been in the fire service for over 17 years, currently with the Port of Moses Lake Fire Department for the last 7 years where he holds the position of lieutenant. He has qualifications in IFSAC FF I and Instructor I, and certification for instructing topics like, Haz-Mat awareness and operations. He has worked as a technician on Haz-Mat incidents and received advanced training for dealing with illicit methamphetamine labs. Jack has instructed at the Washington State Fire Academy in North Bend teaching subjects including: the Burn-to-learn curriculum, Search and Rescue, as well as being an instructor at the Federal fire training facility at Hanford known as HAMMER where he teaches numerous other courses. For the ARFF program at BBCC, Jack instructs Breathing Apparatus and extinguishing agent application sections of the class. He is one of our most experienced instructors at Moses Lake, with extensive knowledge of the operational aspects of the Live Fire training facility. His hands-on approach with students in the Live Fire section of the training keeps the student engaged with the challenging task at hand in a safe environment. We are proud to have such a qualified person as Jack in the ARFF program here at BBCC. Jack lives right on the shoreline of Moses Lake with his wife Lisa, their son Jacob and daughter Morgan. On his free time Jack enjoys riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle, Hunting, Golfing and being a volunteer fire fighter with the local County fire department where he holds the rank of Battalion Chief.
Valorie Minton
ARFF 5 day Instructor
Valorie has been in the fire service since 1998. She started her career in the Army where she attended the Goodfellow Airforce Base Fire Training Academy. Outside the military Valorie pursued her career in firefighting and is currently a career firefighter with the City of Pasco. She is certified as a Instructor I, Firefighter II, Aircraft Rescue Firefighter, Wildland firefighter II, and Incident Safety Officer. In 2002 Valorie was recognized and awarded firefighter of the year for the City of Pasco. Valorie has been with the ARFF Program at Big Bend since 2000 and currently instructs in the classroom and on the drill field. Val's excellent live fire instruction has helped many new-hires become more confident and effective in their new roles as ARFF responders.
On her days off Valorie can be found spending time in the outdoors running, hiking, snowshoeing and snowboarding….
Duane D. Kling
ARFF 5 day Instructor
Duane is a new Instructor at Big Bend Community College. He has been in Fire service for thirteen years. His career began in 1989 with the Grant County Fire District #5 as a volunteer Fire Fighter and resident. For the past three years he has been working for the Port of Moses Lake Fire Department. Duane is certified in Haz-Mat tech, EMT and Instructor 1. Duane is known for his great sense of humor and professional instruction.
" I am a life long resident to the Columbia Basin. I’m married to wife Laura, and have two beautiful daughters (Miranda & Madeline). - I enjoy hiking, camping, and watching my children grow up."