Former Sisters fire chief mourned

Don Mouser, who brought the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District from a tiny volunteer force to a modern fire department, has died after a long battle with chronic pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure.

He was 68.

Mouser grew up in Sisters and attended high school here. He started his working life with Barclay Logging before joining the local volunteer fire department, whose members elected him fire chief.

Mouser presided over a 25-year period of transition in Sisters that, in the 1990s, turned into a time of transformation both for the city and for the fire department. Demands on the fire department grew with the city and surrounding subdivisions and requirements for the fire service became more and more significant.

According to his daughter, Donna Lucas, Mouser was particularly proud of the department's acquisition of modern equipment, including ambulances and fire engines.

"He was definitely passionate about what he did," Lucas said.

Ken Enoch, now Sisters' Assistant Fire Chief, served with Mouser for one year as a volunteer and eight as a staff firefighter.

"Don was a very caring individual and he really cared about the people of Sisters," Enoch said.

That sense of caring and responsibility led him to push hard for the establishing of an ambulance service with EMTs, believing that the fire district had to care for the medical needs of residents and visitors as well as protecting them from fire.

"He was instrumental in starting the ambulance service," Enoch recalled.

Enoch also noted that Mouser would often be found at the Sisters Fire Hall keeping equipment in condition and making sure everything was in proper working order and ready for immediate response to an emergency.

"He lived it here while he was the fire chief in Sisters," Enoch said. "He lived his job."

Mouser retired in October 1998, but he continued to serve. He volunteered with Air Life (now AirLink) and Lucas recalls that he helped out the Crescent Lake fire department, serving as an assistant to their fire chief.

He was devoted to his family and loved classic cars.

"He was always willing to help out," Lucas said, "very loving and devoted, great sense of humor."

Mouser had two children: Lucas, and a son, Raymond. He and his wife Carol were married for 44 years.

Services are planned Thursday, October 22, at 10 a.m. at Redmond Memorial Chapel, 771 S.W. 6th Ave. in Redmond.