Catherine "Cat" Cotton

Country: United States

Fire Dept: Snoqulamie Fire Dept.

State: Washington

Years on job: 3 years

Rank: Firefighter (private)

Description: I'm currently a volunteer EMT/Firefighter at Snoqualmie Fire & Rescue for the past 3 years. I am a retired Paramedic/Firefighter and full-time practicing DVM (veterinarian).

I have worked for several agencies/departments through my EMS career (17 years) before coming to Snoqualmie. And I can honestly say that no other department has sparked my enthusiasm and motivation as much as Snoqualmie Fire & Rescue -- enough for me to get a tattoo to show my pride and dedication to this department. The tattoo that I got is the Snoqualmie Fire & Rescue (SFR) insignia maltese cross but changed the SFR logo to read Snoqualmie Fire Rocks! And of course, added some Harley flames.

The rest of the story was that my 70 year old aunt came to the tattoo parlor with me and was so excited about the tattoo that she decided to get a small tattoo herself (non-fire dept. related) -- it was a fun day!

As many of the other volunteers and career firefighters have tattoos, it is common discussion over morning coffee about latest tattoos. I hadn't told any one at the station prior to getting my tattoo, so they were all blown away by my tattoo (especially as I'm the only woman in the dept.) and thought it was so cool that they suggested I submit it to your website.

Tattoo Location: Lower back

Year Inked: 2005

Studio: Slave to the Needle

Artist: Erika Jones