By Kelly Ingram (Nishimoto)
Signal Staff Writer
Santa Clarita’s own Jason Knight, a firefighter with 25 years of service, met President Donald Trump on Friday at Fire Station 69 in the Pacific Palisades and presented the president with a personalized firefighter helmet.
The visit, which was kept under wraps until the last moment as the president toured the fire-ravaged Palisades neighborhoods, saw the Secret Service meticulously preparing the site and allowing only a select few to be present, said Knight, an L.A. firefighter.
Knight, a resident of Canyon Country for the past 24 years, is also the founder of a locally based company called Fire Axe Inc., which is the official axe maker for the working axes used in structure fires by fire departments across the U.S. and internationally.
Before the president’s visit, Knight was tasked, on short notice, with creating a custom helmet for Trump. Knight coordinated with a local decal artist to ensure the helmet was ready on time. The helmet featured the number “47” for the 47th president and “Firefighters for Trump.”
The custom helmet was a hit, making its way front and center during Trump’s televised roundtable on the fires.
When Trump arrived at the fire station, Knight greeted the president with a warm “Welcome back,” to which the president responded with a hearty “Damn straight!”
“Melania was super kind and polite. It was pretty awesome seeing her there, backing her husband,” Knight said.
Knight described the encounter as one of his top life experiences, right up there with the birth of his children.
