By Jerry Soifer
The Press Enterprise
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — When Riverside firefighter Matt Mathis was a pole vaulter at Norte Vista High School in 1999, he set his goal at the peak of the sport. He aimed to make the U.S. team going to the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
There was substance to Mathis’ dream. As a junior, he cleared 15 feet, 9 inches, then a Riverside County record. He had the offer of an athletic scholarship to UCLA. His parents were so committed to supporting him that they built a pole vault pit in the backyard of their Riverside home. He had a personal coach.
Then he suffered a knee injury while wrestling as a senior. He recovered from surgery during the spring when he normally would have been finishing his high school sports career. The scholarship offer evaporated.
After a year of trying to come back on the Riverside Community College track team, Mathis changed goals.
He decided to study fire science. He was hired as a firefighter by the city of Riverside on Jan. 3, 2003. He still has his sights set on new heights. Mathis has a different avocation: mountain climbing.
New heights
On Aug. 23, Mathis will leave to join a team of six climbers, including Riverside fire Division Chief Dave Lesh and two guides, to climb 18,510-foot high Mount Elbrus in Russia. The team will try to raise $50,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for pediatric cancer research.
Anyone wishing to support Mathis may visit www.stbaldricks.com/participants/mattmathis.
“I feel physically definitely ready,” said Mathis, who lives in Cardiff by the Sea. “This will be my first time being above 15,000 feet, which is a milestone for climbing.”
Mathis has climbed Mount Whitney (14,505 feet) twice, and Mount Shasta (nearly 10,000 feet) and Mount Rainier (14,411 feet) once. He and Lesh climbed Mount San Gorgonio (11,503 feet) last month.
“He’s a good, strong climber,” Lesh said of Mathis. “We mesh very well. I have no trepidations. He’s got a great climbing personality.”
Mathis has developed the ambition to go for the highest summits on the seven continents, including 29,035-foot high Mount Everest in Asia.
“It (Mount Elbrus) will lock in the desire and drive to go for bigger summits,” Mathis said. “This is going to be the first self-sustained expedition-type climb.”
Brave rescue
Mathis, 31, recently won acclaim for his rescue of an elderly woman from a house fire near Poly High in Riverside in January. He and Capt. Jeff DeLaurie, were presented a unit citation for their heroism.
Upon being told of the woman’s presence, Mathis went into the burning building to begin the search. The smoke was 6 inches to a foot off the ground. Mathis knelt down to look below the smoke. He saw a walker but no victim.
He yelled to DeLaurie that he was going deeper into the house. He went to a back bedroom, where he found the woman, whom he estimated to be in her early 90s. He called for DeLaurie to join him; Mathis held her legs, DeLaurie her upper body. They carried her six inches off the ground to minimize her smoke inhalation.
When they reached the hallway, engineer Greg Bluma grabbed her torso. The three carried her into the chilly night air. She had a pulse and was breathing. The woman was hospitalized. But three weeks later, she developed pneumonia and died.
“Impeccable. Flawless,” DeLaurie said of Mathis’ conduct during the rescue. “When I recommended him for the award, those were the words I used. That’s the kind of firefighter he is. He executed the way he had been taught. He executed his assignment in a very dangerous environment.”
Capt. Mike Williams said of Mathis, “He’s very dedicated to his profession. He takes his training seriously. He’s consistently at the top of his game. He’s well respected by his peers.” Mathis was distraught when his pole vaulting career ended.
“To be supported and believed in, it was hard not to make it,” Mathis said.
But he’s happy with the way his career in the fire service has turned out.
“It’s obviously fulfilling for me,” Mathis said.
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