Fire district withdrawal clears first hurdle

The Skagit County Auditor’s Office has certified the petition signed by more than 100 voters who want to withdraw from Fire District 13.

That means the ball is in Fire District 13’s court — its three commissioners will be tasked with studying the proposal, holding a public hearing and then making a recommendation to the Skagit County Commissioners.

Fire District 13 Chief Roy Horn said he can’t predict how fire commissioners Chuck Hedlund, Arne Fohn and Larry Kibbee will respond to the request. In the meantime, “my suggestion to them would be to put in the hands of our attorney,” he said. “I just want to make sure we follow the correct sequence.”

The residents who want out of Fire District 13 live in the northeast corner of the district, which is on the east side of Swinomish Channel and north of La Conner.

Fire District 13’s population base is located mostly west of the channel on the Swinomish Reservation and a portion of Anacortes, but its response area straddles both sides of the channel and surrounds La Conner, which has its own volunteer fire department.

The lion’s share of Fire District 13’s emergency calls are on the west side of the channel in Shelter Bay, Swinomish Village and at the Swinomish Casino.

The withdrawal petition was presented to the Elections Department of the Auditor’s Office late last month by Channel Drive residents Dave Buchan, Dennis Miliken and Martin Howard. They want everything north of McLean and Downey roads bounded by the Swinomish Channel on the west and Fire District 13’s current boundaries removed from the district.

That’s because they want to annex to Fire District 2, which has a fire station on McLean Road. The residents say this would give emergency vehicles faster response times with a straight shot to their neighborhood. Fire District 13 responds from its Snee-Oosh Road station on the west side of the channel, and its units travel through the reservation, across the Rainbow Bridge and through La Conner to reach their neighborhood.

Skagit County Elections Supervisor Dave Cunningham has said the process for withdrawal, once the petition has been certified, is for Fire District 13 Commissioners and the Skagit County Commissioners to determine whether the move would be beneficial to the district and to the residents. If both governing bodies agree the neighborhood should detach from the district, the process can be done by resolution.

However, if either board rejects the idea, the petitioners could be forced to pay for a special election, which would involve all voters in the district.

County Commissioner Ron Wesen, who represents the area, said he is still gathering information on the potential withdrawal. “One of the concerns I have is a potential lag time between when they get out of a fire district and when they get into another one.”

He said he’s checking to see whether a withdrawal and annexation could be accomplished concurrently, or whether there would be a risk of leaving an area stranded without emergency services for a time.