Chief's Chat

TL;DR

As of July 2024 the glacier fire and rescue WSRB rating was improved from a 7 to a 6 (down is good), for the first time in department history. Yay!

The Big Picture 

In November of 2021 voters in the protection district of Glacier Fire and Rescue approved a levy increase for fire protection. One of the driving factors behind the initial proposal for a levy increase was to upgrade and replace aging fire apparatus. One of the many hoped for benefits of such expenditure was an improvement in the fire districts WSRB rating (see previous post). Well, I am happy to report that sometimes things do go as planned. 

Thank you for your support on the levy that began collecting in January 2022. We have been active on your behalf.  

With the additional funds provided by the levy increase we have purchased a new frontline fire engine, a Pierce Sabre. This purchase allowed us to move the previous frontline fire engine into backup status, also helping to improve WSRB rating. Currently we are in the design and contracting phase of purchasing a new ambulance. 

In addition to purchases, we were able to provide much needed maintenance and repairs to the old engine prior to putting into backup status. Having some of the funds in reserve capacity made it possible for the department to quickly repair our only wild land fire truck when it had a failure at the beginning of wildfire season. 

Looking forward these funds will allow the department to provide training and equipment that meets the most current standards for safety and effectiveness. As a reminder, Glacier Fire and Rescue responds to fires, medical emergencies, search and rescue calls, river rescue, technical rope rescue and a variety of other oddball calls. This great variety of skills and capabilities requires a tremendous amount of training. 

Overall; I just want to say good job!

Good job to the voters for investing in the safety and preparedness of their community. 

Good job to the volunteer firefighters who keep showing up through good times and bad.

Thank you all

Josh

TL;DR  

Glacier Fire and Rescue commissioners authorized a levy proposition to be placed on the November 2 2021 ballot.  If the levy passes the bulk of the newly collected funds will be used to upgrade aging fire and ems emergency response apparatus (fire trucks and ambulance).

More info for those who are interested

Here is the big picture.  The number one goal of Glacier Fire and Rescue is to provide the highest quality emergency service response at the greatest value possible.  When we are talking emergency services really we are talking about three distinct entities; Fire, EMS and Rescue.  Technically as a Fire District fire response is our number one mandate, in reality 70%-80% of modern fire service response is EMS in nature.  Rescue is a unique service provided by Glacier Fire and Rescue necessitated both by the nature of our local geography and the volume of people who recreate in the area.  In the future I would like to talk more on EMS and Rescue but as we are discussing the levy, fire response is most relevant.

Fire response is the foundation of a fire district.  The adequacy or lack thereof of a fire district to perform the basic functions of fire response is evaluated every five years by the organization Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau (WSRB).  As the name implies, after providing a survey (evaluation) of our organization we receive a rating.  What is the rating used for?  Insurance companies use a fire districts rating to determine insurance rates for structures within the district.  The better your districts rating the lower, on average, insurance premiums.  The magic formula is to use increased levy rates to equip the department in such a way that a better rating is received.  While no guarantees can be made, the potential exists to have insurance rates decrease to a greater degree than the levy rate was increased thus providing a net savings to the property owner.

So, what items are of concern to the WSRB rating?  I will speak to the big ones.

1. Water supply - its pretty obvious that an adequate water supply is a big deal when it comes to fighting fire.  Fortunately for us we have an amazingly well built and well maintained water supply thanks to the Glacier water district.
2. Personnel - again, pretty obvious that you need people to respond to calls.  This also has to do with training of personnel, the more well documented high quality training the better.  I can't say enough good things about our core of dedicated and committed volunteers.
3. Apparatus - this is really the topic for current levy discussion.  Pretty simple, insurance companies want to ensure that fire apparatus is adequate for the job at hand.  When it comes to WSRB rating of apparatus the big points that are evaluated pump capacity (how much water can you move), maintenance schedule as shown with records and the big one; age of apparatus.  This last point, age of apparatus, is where we are currently losing points and due to lose even more on our next (2023) evaluation.  Our fire engine was manufactured in  2004 and by current standards is at the end of it's functional life as a frontline fire engine., time for a new one.

In summary; our goal is the fabled win-win-win scenario.

• Taxpayers / property owners win by having improved emergency services and ideally an improved WSRB rating.
• The fire district wins by having the support, training and tools necessary to complete our mission.
• Insurance companies win by having robust fire response in the community thus protecting assets that they insure.

If you have read this far I sincerely thank you for taking the time to understand the process more thoroughly and fulfill your role as an informed voter.  If there are any questions that you would like answered on this topic or any other WCFD 19 business do not hesitate to reach out.  Thanks

Josh

In regards to recent fundraising efforts undertaken on behalf of Glacier Fire and Rescue the question has been asked “Don’t my taxes pay for that?”

The short answer is no. 

We’ll get back to that, first let’s learn more about Glacier Fire and Rescue (GF&R). 

GF&R is comprised of approximately 24 volunteer firefighters and EMTs, about a third of whom are responsible for the majority of call responses. It is challenging to be a volunteer firefighter, both in as to how much training time commitment is involved and the ability/desire to drop everything at a moments notice. GF&R firefighters are on call 24/7, responsible for responding to 75-100 calls per year. GF&R volunteers cover a territory from approximately MP 28 -> Artist Point. In addition they provide mutual aid support to WCFD 14 and backcountry rescue support to Whatcom County Search and Rescue. 

The training requirements to be a GF&R firefighter are significant; in addition to 300 hours of fire academy training there is another 150 hours of coursework and testing required to be certified as a Washington State EMT. Mandatory ongoing training consists of two weekday evenings per month plus weekend trainings in the summer. Many volunteers go above and beyond this “minimum”, performing station maintenance and attending additional non-mandatory training. There is very little upside for these individuals, the potential downsides are immeasurable. 

The point being, please consider the sacrifices that members of your own community make on your behalf when we discuss issues of financial support for this municipal resource. 

Operating a fire district is not without cost, much of which is often provided through a taxing mechanism, in this case a voter approved levy. Donations are also a historical way of funding volunteer fire protection activities, fundraising and volunteer fire departments have been together since the beginning. 

Whatcom County Fire District 19 (that’s us) has the lowest levy rate in the county, half of what some other districts collect. Our current levy rate is 74 cents per 1000 dollars ($0.74/$1000) and decreasing annually. Most local fire districts of our size attempt to maintain their levy rate at approximately 1 dollar per 1000 dollars ($1.00/$1000). Levy rates need to be voted on periodically because rates, by law, do not keep up with inflation or housing value increases. The current shortage caused by that $0.26/$1000 disparity is in the neighborhood of a $50,000 per year budget shortage. 

“What? That’s crazy!” Yes it is and until that disparity is resolved fundraising is the bandaid. What does that money support? Primarily training and equipment. I have already outlined some of the training requirements necessary to be an active GF&R volunteer, which is the absolute minimum required to be competent. Additionally there is equipment, a set of bunker gear and other protective clothing is approximately $3500 per firefighter. Our frontline fire engine is nearly 20 years old, a new one cost around $500,000 (that’s 10 years of levy shortfall). I won’t even get started on the antiquity of our ambulance workspace or the space restrictions of the fire hall. 

So, is there an upside? Yes. There are mechanisms in place to encourage us to help ourselves, primarily in the form of the Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau (WSRB). I will get more into the WSRB process more in a future post, for now imagine their attitude to be that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. They have created a scoring matrix that monetarily incentivizes communities to invest in, you guessed it, training and equipment. So, to the question of taxes; if they did indeed pay for all that is necessary to provide the quality of protection that our residents deserve then fundraising would not be necessary, but no, as of now taxes do not cover the need. 

This post is meant to be a conversation starter as to the safe and efficient functioning of your volunteer fire department, there are many components to be considered and this represents just a few. I hope that you will feel inspired to engage in the future of GF&R as an active citizen or better yet, as a volunteer. I am here to answer any questions that you may have concerning GF&R.

Until next time, stay safe. 

Josh