By Bill Reynolds
La Conner Community News
Skagit County Fire District 13 officials are taking seriously the forecasts of a hot and dry El Nino summer in the Pacific Northwest.
The local fire district, whose coverage area is Swinomish Reservation and rural La Conner, has adopted a revised mobilization policy for sending its firefighters and equipment to hot spots across the region.
District Commissioners Bruce Shellhamer and John Doyle on June 11 updated the policy for providing aid to other departments and state agencies fighting serious wildland fires. The key elements include regular minimum pay of $50 per hour for deployed firefighters, with a work schedule ranging from three to 14 consecutive days.
In Washington state, formal mechanisms are in place to reimburse local jurisdictions, such as District 13, when their equipment and personnel are called to assist outside their district.
District 13 Secretary Tracy Berg said the revised mobilization policy is modeled after one employed by District 14 in Alger.
The Washington State Mobilization Program deploys firefighting resources across the state. Numerous such fires are predicted for this summer with the onset of El Nino conditions, which federal forecasters last week confirmed have arrived.
El Nino is characterized by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, leading to warmer and drier weather.
Evidence is mounting that this year’s El Nino will be unusually strong, potentially triggering summer droughts and heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, northern Plains and Upper Midwest, according to representatives of the World Meteorological Organization.
Capt. Ted Taylor, who attended the June 11 fire district meeting remotely and is the District 13 Emergency Management coordinator, noted that the local fire season “is coming quick.”
In another development, Taylor reported that District 13 Battalion Chief Jami Jurdi had led a fire extinguisher training session last month with the Shelter Bay Yacht Club. Taylor said that District 13 will provide the training to all groups and organizations that request them.
“This training creates a lot of community goodwill at the cost of two Costco fire extinguishers,” Taylor said. “I highly recommend having them accessible.”
Related to that, Shellhamer noted that District 13 personnel continue to install home smoke alarms and teach CPR classes.
“All these public things that we can do to prevent (hazardous) situations is a real good thing,” Shellhamer said.
Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
