Fire District 13 November meeting summary

Fire District 13 Commission Chair Bruce Shellhamer traveled over 300 miles to discover his department shares the same operational challenges with similar fire districts.

“We’re not alone when it comes to staffing issues,” said Shellhamer, told commissioners at their Nov. 10 monthly meeting, providing highlights from October’s annual Washington Fire Commissioners Association conference in Spokane.

District 13 has lost personnel to what Fire Chief Wood Weiss calls “career departments” that pay full salaries and benefits.

“All (volunteer and hybrid) departments are dealing with hiring and retention issues,” Shellhamer said. “It’s not just us.” Another common theme of concern among smaller fire protection departments and districts is finances.

“Especially with inflation,” Shellhamer stressed. “For instance, there has been a $190,000 increase on a basic $500,000 engine. That’s a 38% increase. But our revenues didn’t go up 38%. As we enter budget season, these are challenges. Every day that goes by, costs go up.”

In other developments, training officer Drew Jenkins said District personnel will exceed state mandated training hours before the end of the year. He thanked Weiss for proposing increased funding for training in the district’s 2023 budget.

Capt. Ted Turner said the local tsunami warning siren was activated for the annual Oct. 20 Great ShakeOut Earthquake emergency preparation drills.

“But polling people in Shelter Bay,” Taylor said, “I was told they either didn’t go outside to hear the message or they did and couldn’t understand it.”

Taylor suggests that people log into mil.wa.gov/alerts on their cell phones to receive emergency instructions after hearing the siren.

Commissioner John Doyle reported he is navigating the permit process for the district’s long-sought installation of a modular residential unit for shift personnel at the Snee-Oosh Road station. He is in ongoing discussions with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Planning Department to complete the permit process.