CAMANO: Jan Treml, longtime Camano Fire advocate and Commissioner, steps down from Board
The Camano Island Fire & Rescue District posted this item in the news section of their website on Feb. 10, 2025.
Fire Commissioner Jan Treml tendered her resignation to the Camano Fire Board of Commissioners at its Feb. 10 regular meeting.
Treml has served the District for 20 years, as a ladies’ auxiliary member since 2005 then as commissioner since 2016. She was elected by voters in 2015 and re-elected again in 2021. Her current six-year term expires in 2027.
“Commissioner Treml exemplifies all the things that make Camano Fire great, Fire Chief Levon Yengoyan said. “Her commitment to service, her community engagement, her compassion and caring for those in need, have helped shape who we are as a fire department. Her wisdom and knowledge will be greatly missed.”
In front of a board room filled with many of Treml’s longtime friends and colleagues, Chief Yengoyan and members of the Board presented Treml with a plaque in honor of her 10 years of service as a commissioner.
“On behalf of the Commissioners, we just want to thank you for your leadership – and for me, your mentorship,” said Kim Williams, Chair of the Board of Fire Commissioners. “You have been fabulous, so thank you. And your stewardship of community resources and how you lead always thinking about the community is a legacy you will leave with all of us.”
Fire Siren to Fire Commissioner
Jan Treml’s first introduction to Camano Fire came purely by chance in 2004.
“I was volunteering at the [Stanwood] Thrift Store. Myrna was this delightful little 90-year-old lady – who was about this tall – decided I had to join the Sirens.”
The Madrona Fire Sirens were one of Camano’s local women’s auxiliaries – a support group and fundraising arm for the formerly all-volunteer fire districts that served the island from the early 1940s through late 90s. The Sirens were instrumental in raising money for the first fire station in Madrona back in the 1950s. They even started the department’s annual Halloween Party.
Membership in the Sirens connected Treml with the fire department, where she became active in supporting the department’s 2007 bond initiative and other campaigns. When the Sirens disbanded, she became a member of the Mabana Flames, where she remains an active member.
When then-Assistant Chief Yengoyan approached Treml to see if she might be interested in serving as a Fire Commissioner, she was very interested.
“I got really active in supporting the initiatives of the department,” Treml said. “I had served on a lot of boards, so I thought ‘Oh! This will be something I’m familiar with.’ Ha! Entirely different.”
Unlike previous nonprofit boards, on which she had served, being a fire commissioner put Treml right into the heart of operations – overseeing finances, planning strategically for the long-term future of the department, and focusing as much on organization detail as on governance of the organization. In her 10 years on the board, Treml has seen a big shift in how the Board approaches its role.
“We really have worked on our relationship with the Chief,” she said. “We’ve worked on strategic issues and relationships. For example, we’re much more into looking at total risk for the department, and he’s developed a way for us to manage that. It’s been a long process to get that in place.”
Stepping down now wasn’t an easy decision, but Treml said as she’s getting older, she can see that it’s time for fresh views on the board.
“There’s a lot of skill on the Board of Commissioners and I’m going to miss watching what happens,” she said. “But as long as I’m on the island, I’ll volunteer to do things like open houses and serve on a committee if they need me on a committee. I don’t want to just disappear.”
