One of the first questions is, what does a Fire Commissioner do?
RCW 52.14.100: Meetings—Powers and duties of board.
All meetings of the board of fire commissioners shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 42.30 RCW and a majority constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business. All records of the board shall be open to inspection in accordance with chapter 42.56 RCW.
The board has the power and duty to adopt a seal of the district, to manage and conduct the business affairs of the district, to make and execute all necessary contracts, to employ any necessary services, and to adopt reasonable rules to govern the district and to perform its functions, and generally to perform all such acts as may be necessary to carry out the objects of the creation of the district.
Information from the website for Kittitas County Fire District #7 provides an excellent overview (see kcfd7.org):
Kittitas County Fire District 7 is the largest fire district in the Upper Kittitas County and our ability to manage our responses and assist other agencies is critical. KCFD7 has been in existence since 1980 under the Fire Protection District, organized under Title 52 of the Revised Code of Washington.
KCFD7 jurisdiction is in Northern Kittitas County, covering 126 square miles around the communities of Cle Elum, South Cle Elum, Roslyn, and Ronald. These areas include Teanaway, Liberty, Peoh Point, Nelson, Salmon La Sac, and more.
The municipal services provided by KCFD 7 in accordance with the mission and statutes that govern fire protection districts and fire departments are Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Basic Life Support (BLS) response; Fire Prevention/Public Education; Fire Suppression (vehicle, residential and commercial); Wildland Firefighting; Hazardous Materials Response-Operations; and Technical Rescue/Special Operations (high/low angle, ice rescue).
The district provides these services from eight stations and employs one Fire Chief (through a contract with KVFR), one Deputy Chief, a Day Captain, and 9 Career Firefighters/EMTs. The district’s staff rotation always has 2-4 career firefighters on duty responding to calls from Station 73 off of Golf Course Road 24 hours-a-day/ 365 days a year, with integral volunteer response support.
KCFD7 administration employees include one Finance Admin/ District Secretary, one Administrative Specialist, one Fleet Mechanic, and one Facility Maintenance Technician.
VOLUNTEERS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE
Volunteer firefighters have been and continue to be a key component of KCFD7. Recruitment and retention challenges severely affect public safety in rural and aging communities, and many nearby towns have volunteer fire departments and similar recruitment and retention needs. Our volunteers primarily come from our district, which has a population of about 5,500.
Most of our volunteers are over 50 and have full-time jobs. Some are retired but face physical limitations that restrict their ability to participate in all response activities.
These limitations, both in numbers and capability, are highlighted during our wildfire season which lasts from May through October. We average over 800 calls annually and in 2021 the district had 28% of calls overlap, meaning there was more than one call going on at once. This stretches an already thin workforce and results in inadequate staffing, impacting first responder safety and response effectiveness.
Our community comprises retired residents, people who commute out of the area for work, and young families who make it necessary to continue retaining and expanding career firefighters.
EMS SUPPORT
At the request of Hospital District 2, KCFD7 took on the critical mission of supporting Upper County Medic One’s Advanced Life Support (Paramedic) responses with our career and volunteer personnel. We have trained many of our personnel to Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) level.
We are the primary backup transporting agency for Hospital District 2. Firefighters trained to an EMT level on-scene greatly help Hospital District 2 provide the best possible care to their patients as some calls require extensive responder power.
SUNCADIA AND TUMBLE CREEK
Suncadia is a planned unincorporated community and four-season resort located in Kittitas County Fire District 7. It covers an area of 6,300 acres. The multi-million-dollar project features a 4-star rated mountain lodge with convention center facilities, a mountain springs theme spa, a sports center, three indoor and outdoor swimming pools, an outdoor venue amphitheater/lake with winter ice skating, trails, and recreational areas, over 2,000 high-end residential units, a 254 room Lodge, a 40-unit condominium project, a winery, and three golf courses.
It is located approximately 80 miles east of Seattle in the Cascade Mountains between Roslyn, Cle Elum, and the Mountains to Sound Greenway section of Interstate 90. The resort is host to a constant stream of vacationers as well as major corporations that hold conferences at the resort convention center which has a capacity of 1,500 on any given day.
The population served by Kittitas County Fire District 7 can swell to over three times its normal amount on any weekend or weekday. The Fire and EMS calls the district responds to increase dramatically because of the resort given the increase in population as well as the activities provided at the resort.
The resort which is entirely in the Urban Wildland Interface presents additional unique challenges to the fire district. Wildfire is a major concern as the resort has mostly been left in its natural forested state. In addition, access to the resort is limited to two entrance/exit points and only one entrance/exit point in the gated community of Tumble Creek.
As of March of 2022, only 1,200 of the 4,500 planned homes in Suncadia have been built.
