Fire station hoping new program will quicken response times

Point Fosdick station transitions to 24-hour staff

Ashley Coats

of the Gateway

The fire station located on Point Fosdick Drive is replacing resident and volunteer firefighters for 24-hour response employees in an effort to improve response time.

“What we had there in the past was residents and volunteers only,” said Penny Hulse, Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One prevention division chief. “They were just there when they were available. Now, there is always someone there. It’s a 24-hour staff.”

The staffing change will affect emergencies between Point Fosdick Drive and the southern tip of the Gig Harbor Peninsula.

But this isn’t the first change that the Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One has made to improve response time.

Two years ago, research was conducted to see if response times could improve. The results showed 9-1-1 dispatchers could reduce their radio dispatch by 30 seconds, and 15 seconds was shaved by firefighters “rushing and hurrying up the process” to get in their vehicles, Hulse said.

“In medic and fire emergencies, time is one of the most critical factors,” she said. “It will reduce the call response time to one to two minutes. That’s what we expect.”

The change was made after Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One was granted a “levy lid lift.” Usually a fire station can only increase its budget by 1 percent, but a lid lift allows the budget to increase by a greater percentage.

The money from the lid lift was used to hire the 18 new firefighters who staff the Point Fosdick station, and it will help fund a new training center.

“We have also begun the permitting process to complete our training center, which will allow firefighters to train in the district instead of traveling to North Bend for the same training,” Hulse said. “This will reduce the cost of training and make it more accessible to all.”

The community supported the levy increase when the fire station requested more funds to improve response times.

“This is what we promised,” Hulse said. “It’s what we told the public we would do with the money.”

Hulse said the change is one of many transitions throughout the district from residents and volunteers to a 24-hour staff in the next five years.

Fire Commissioner meetings

Fire District Commissioners meetings are held on the second and fourth Monday each month at 3 p.m.

If anyone is interested in what the fire district is doing, they are encouraged to attend the regular meetings.

Reach intern Ashley Coats at 253-853-9224 or by e-mail at ashley.coats@gateline.com.