While Fire Station 22 in Sudden Valley has been closed to response personnel since January due to extreme water damage, Fire Chief Mitch Nolze says firefighters and EMTs from the South Whatcom Fire Authority (SWFA) are still meeting their response time objectives.
During an extreme freeze-thaw cycle in mid-January, a fire sprinkler pipe in the Sudden Valley Fire Station broke and water filled the system, damaging the walls, ceiling, floor, cabinets and appliances in the living quarters. Removing water-damaged fixtures and drywall took nearly a month. (On the same day, Jan. 15, staff also had to deal with a second, smaller leak at the Geneva Fire Station.)
The damage has meant that for the time being, emergency responders for the area are based out of Geneva, but the SWFA administrative office in Sudden Valley is still open during business hours. While the relocation of personnel means a slightly longer drive to respond to calls in Sudden Valley, Nolze noted that SWFA is still hitting the time goals laid out in its operating plan — usually between five and 15 minutes, depending on several factors including the number of personnel or engines, the severity of the call and whether the emergency is in a heavily populated or built area.
“We are still working to respond as effectively and efficiently as we can,” Nolze said.
When it’s operating normally, Sudden Valley has between three and four emergency responders on premises at all times, in addition to the administrative staff who are there during business hours. The three chief officers who still work in Sudden Valley are always monitoring calls and will respond in high-priority situations, Nolze added.
A remodel of Fire Station 22 was already being planned because it was built in the early 1990s as a volunteer response station and wasn’t designed to house around-the-clock staff.
“This situation accelerated that conversation,” Nolze said about the remodel. “It is the commission’s and the administration’s highest priority to get this station back open and operating. I hear that from the community and I respect that.”
Simultaneously, the SWFA is planning to build an administrative annex at the Geneva Fire Station to increase the storage capacity in Sudden Valley, and to offer more equitable access to administration for residents throughout the authority’s large 21-square-mile service area.
“It also gives our chief officers a more central location and saves us around seven minutes of drive time if we’re responding to a call during work hours,” Nolze said about eventually moving the administrative office to Geneva.
Complex incidents that necessitate response from chief officers, like car accidents on the freeway or technical rescues in the mountains, tend to happen more frequently on the southerly and westerly side of the authority’s jurisdiction, a long drive from Sudden Valley.
Nolze said he hopes to have a design plan and cost estimate for the remodels available by the July fire commissioners’ meeting.
Two fire protection districts in Whatcom County, District 1 and District 17, are currently seeking additional tax dollars from voters to rebuild their stations and hire more staff, but Nolze said the SWFA board of commissioners does not anticipate asking for funding from its voters — both projects should be covered with cash reserves, financing and the insurance settlement for water damage.
The South Whatcom Firefighters Association is hosting its annual Summer Kickoff Pancake Feed from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 22 at the Geneva Fire Station. Nolze said the popular community event has drawn up to 900 attendees in the past. Members of the public are welcome to attend and discuss their concerns or give input to the staff and administration of the fire authority.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
