By DAVID JENNINGS

I have served as a fire commissioner, EMT, volunteer firefighter or in some other capacity for Vashon Island Fire & Rescue for almost 10 years. I have served under and over six fire chiefs and shared the board with 10 other board members. I have joked with friends that they don’t call it a six-year “term” for nothing. Finally, it is coming to an end. I have one more meeting to attend.

I look forward to no longer having to answer the question, “What is wrong with the fire department?” In truth — and this may sound crazy in light of the gossip you hear — there is really nothing wrong with the fire department. It is no different from any other organization that relies on volunteers and paid members: It has huge successes, functions 99 percent of the time, makes mistakes, steps in controversy, accidentally offends good people and occasionally nurtures bad people. And, like every volunteer organization, homeowner’s association, club or bake sale that ever was, it sometimes takes a beating.

In the case of the fire department, the beating comes from a few people who have mastered making themselves sound like a crowd. I have learned that in this respect, Vashon Island Fire & Rescue is not unique: It is the norm to have tumult in fire departments. Articles in “Fire Chief” and other magazines in the fire and rescue industry deal with the same issues we face, the same issues you see in The Beachcomber and hear about on the streets.

Knowing that it happens everywhere doesn’t make it more pleasant. Nonetheless, I try to remember that almost all of the people who protest against the department — those who picket it, blog about it, sue it and rage about it in the aisles of Thriftway — once volunteered for the department. They want what they think is right and best for the community. By focusing on their concerns (and ignoring or forgiving their behavior), one can see that they really do mean well.

I wish I could promise that the controversy surrounding our fire department will someday disappear. The rage has burned as long as I have been there, and those with longer tenures tell me it has smoldered as long as anyone can remember. The three new commissioners, from two elections past, learned this lesson. The anti-fire department people hailed their election as a new dawn and menaced that others would soon pay now that these new commissioners were in power. Instead, within six months, the new commissioners found themselves at odds with the people who had supported them. The commissioners tried hard to appease their supporters, but it was impossible to do so.

Perhaps the new commissioners began to see that the fire department was not the enemy and that solving problems was not as simple as they had been told. Perhaps they learned that it was not enough to “talk,” “listen,” “lead,” “decide,” “push,” “mediate” or apply some other simple verb to resolve complex human interactions.

So it goes. People were criticizing the department when I was a firefighter 10 years ago, and the same people continue to criticize it as I write this. Some, however, have only recently noticed that the department seems to be suffering from a bad reputation. They infer, without choking on the irony, that the reason we cannot recruit volunteer firefighters from the Island is because of this bad reputation — and what are the commissioners and the fire department going to do about it?

The answer is that we do nothing. This isn’t, after all, a fire department problem; it’s a social issue. That is not to say that criticizing the department doesn’t hurt our efforts to recruit volunteers, but putting an end to gossip lies outside the department. Gossip is an eternal problem. If I could figure out how to stop it, I would be the first to do so. The key is to work around it.

I could go on for pages, but the important message is that the fire department will survive. I have learned, first and foremost, that with five board members, it is nearly impossible for one or two people to drive the department off a cliff. Second, like so many of you, most people who serve in the department tune out the politics and focus on the job at hand. Third, because certain board members and candidates have attacked our nascent firefighters’ union, it now is wakening from its slumber, growing stronger instead of being intimidated. Whatever your feelings are about unions, they tend to persist. Like it or not, the firefighters’ union needs a healthy fire department if the union is to survive.

However, perhaps the best message I can send is that there is still civility, enthusiasm, and camaraderie in the department. I see this every time I visit the living quarters upstairs at the main station. Whenever I was overwhelmed by the bickering in the department, outside the department and about the department, I visited the living quarters. I saw men and women laughing, cooking and watching movies and heard them talking about fire and aid calls. Volunteers mixed with paid firefighters, who mixed with paramedics, and all got along just fine. They not only tolerated me, they welcomed me. And, by god, they all seemed happy. Every time.

I leave with that thought in mind: People in the fire department, upstairs at the main station, all acting happy and doing their jobs. It kept me going for six years, so maybe it can spark a little bit of hope in you, too.

— David Jennings, an assistant U.S. attorney, is stepping down this month as a commissioner for Vashon Island Fire & Rescue.