By Bill Reynolds
La Conner Community News
Fire District 13 is gearing up for an expected busy wildland fire season, its commissioners are weighing options to bolster the district’s fleet, and plans are afoot for dock fire training at La Conner Marina in late July.
Those were key topics addressed during the district’s monthly commissioners meeting Tuesday at the Snee-Oosh Road station.
“Wildland fire season is heating up,” District 13 Fire Chief Wood Weiss told the three-member panel. “I think we’ll see a lot of activity this year.”
Fortunately, a recent suspected wildfire on nearby Hope Island proved to be a controlled campfire. Weiss said La Conner Hook & Ladder and its new fireboat, which was christened on Swinomish Channel last September, was among units responding to the call.
“That’s a wonderful boat,” Weiss said of La Conner’s long-sought emergency vessel, whose purchase was funded in part by the Port of Skagit.
Weiss stressed that Fire District 13, which primarily covers Swinomish Reservation and rural La Conner, enjoys a strong working relationship with the Town fire department.
In that vein, the two departments will join forces for an evening training session at the marina tentatively scheduled for July 29.
“These trainings are important, and are built to create a reproducible situation, though there’s no way to totally predict what can happen in that kind of fire,” Weiss said of the moorage area exercises.
The commissioners closed their meeting with a brief tour of an E-One Spartan FC-94 demo model pumper truck that district firefighters tried out over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The successful District 13 levy lid lift election last fall secured revenues to allow purchase of a new pumper or ladder truck, Weiss noted.
The E-One pumper features a 450-horsepower Cummins engine, has a 1,000-gallon water tank capacity, and boasts 285 cubic feet of compartmentation.
“Having a Cummins is really big for me,” Weiss said.
Better yet, its price tag is appealing.
Weiss told commissioners the E-One pumper would likely cost around $675,000, far less expensive than similar models built by rival firms.
Maneuverability is another plus.
“It’s quick and it turns real well,” said District 13 firefighter Chris Petershagen. “We had it at the museum parking lot on the hill in La Conner and it made all the turns up there.”
One drawback, however, is that the FC-94 pumper has a short ladder.
Weiss said E-One also manufactures ladder trucks, ideal for fighting fires in taller structures, but priced significantly higher than a pumper with less maneuverability.
“Having a ladder truck would help out a lot if a fire were to break out at the casino or in one of the three-story buildings that have gone up in the area,” Weiss said.
Commissioner John Doyle questioned the utility of purchasing a ladder truck versus a pumper given that two neighboring fire services — Anacortes and McLean Road — have ladder rigs.
“I’m wondering how often we would need a ladder truck when two of our neighbors have them. We really have to consider that when we have mutual aid agreements with those two districts,” said Doyle, a former Town of La Conner administrator,
District 13 hasn’t yet set a firm date for acquisition of a new fire engine, leaving time for further discussion.
In other District 13 news and notes:
- Weiss said district firefighters put out three fireworks-related beach fires on July 4. But there were no reported incidents from the major pyrotechnic displays over Swinomish Channel and in Swinomish Reservation that night, he said. “The Fourth went pretty well,” Weiss said. “There were no injuries, which always amazes me.”
- District 13 has responded to 685 service calls to date this year, Weiss reported. “We’ve had over 100 calls every month,” he said. “So, it’s been a pretty strong year so far.”
Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
