Fire District 13 puts 2 EMTs at Summit Park

There’s supply and demand, but it can be demand and supply.

The latter condition has led Skagit County Fire District 13 to assign two emergency medical technicians for 12-hour shifts two days per week at the Summit Park station near Highway 20 starting in mid-June.

“We need to be out there,” Fire Chief Wood Weiss told district commissioners via Zoom during their hour-long May 9 meeting at the Snee-Oosh Road station.

Weiss was in Leavenworth. He said staffing that station full-time twice weekly will help response times to a growing number of calls in the northwest corner of the district, including the Swinomish Casino & Lodge.

“We want to see how it works,” said Weiss. “It looks like Fridays and Saturdays will be the best days, but we can move that around.”

Weiss estimated that adding shifts at Summit Park will cost the district $572 per week and about $29,000 annually. He anticipates a Summit Park presence will enable the district to respond to more five basic life support transports per month.

Commissioners were on board with the plan on a trial basis.

“I think we need to try it,” said commissioner J.J. Wilbur.

Chair Bruce Shellhamer agreed. “It seems like a wise thing to try,” he said.

The district, which serves rural La Conner and Swinomish Reservation, expanded its mission to include a proactive Community Assistance, Referrals and Education Services outreach team to respond to needs outside the 9-1-1 emergency system.

Capt. Drew Farrell, the district’s medical officer, said the CARES team took on 15% of the district’s call load in April.

He said the CARES unit provides vaious patient services, from checking blood pressures and other vital signs to making home visits and phone calls.

“We get the patients on the road to getting the care they need,” Farrell said. “We see what further resources they need and get them to where they’re safe and healthy in their homes.”

Summer wildland fire training is being planned.

“Wildland scenarios are the focus this month,” said training officer Chris Olbu. Members of neighboring fire departments, including La Conner, may join district training sessions.

“My theory is that if we fight fires together, we should train together,” Olbu said.

He also noted he is working with Port of Skagit officials and La Conner to schedule a drill at La Conner Marina like those conducted at Shelter Bay.

Shellhamer endorsed working with neighboring districts.

Capt. Gary Ladd said there will be an Aug. 24 wildland fire drill. He encouraged Wilbur and other Swinomish leaders to participate in its planning.

The district’s emergency management coordinator, Capt. Ted Taylor, stressed that a firm evacuation system needs to be in place should there be a major wildland fire on the reservation.

“We hope it never happens, but we’ve got to plan for it,” Taylor said.

Taylor said a mass evacuation, with streams of motorists trying to cross the Rainbow Bridge, would be “hairy.”

Commissioner John Doyle, formerly La Conner’s town administrator, said waterborne evacuations – which Taylor has at prior meetings referred to as “an Operation Dunkirk” – should be part of the plan.

“We’ve looked at this closely,” Taylor said. “You can’t move a very large number of people per hour, but it can help those who are isolated. It wouldn’t be a primary option, but I certainly wouldn’t disregard it.”

Doyle said that depending on wind currents a significant wildfire could force Fidalgo Island residents to the water’s edge, making rescue by boats a necessity.

The three-member fire district commission meets next on June 13. By then, Weiss hopes to have cost estimates for proposed installation of a heating and air conditioning system at the new Larry Kibbee firefighters/EMTs residential unit.