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Your ballot should be arriving any day now. On the ballot, you will be asked whether you support a general levy increase for additional firefighter/EMT staffing on Bainbridge. And you will be asked to consider a bond measure for fire stations and capital equipment.
Yesterday, January 21, Bainbridge Island Fire Department Chief Hank Teran, Assistant Chiefs Luke Carpenter and Jared Moravec, and Finance Administrator Ed Kaufman gathered around a table at Station 21 to make the case for the two measures.
Kaufman explained that, after the economy tanked, the BIFD was unable between 2010 and 2013 to collect $1.6 million of the money requested and approved on the 2009 EMS levy because of the reduction in assessed home values.
On that levy, the BIFD wasn’t asking for the maximum allowed by statute, or $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. They were asking for only $0.40. The new levy request would add $.09 to the general fire levy.
Teran said, “We have made a conscientious decision to ask for what we really need to provide the services.”
Why the Money Is Needed
And just exactly what is that? Both measures, said Teran, are about providing necessary service to the Island.
The staffing levy is about making sure there are two staff firefighters per shift (there are three shifts) based out of Station 23, the one located on Phelps near Day Road. The money will cover 6 additional firefighters and overtime to fill any vacant shifts.
![Station 23]()
Station 23
The BIFD is a combination department, meaning that service is provided by a mix of career staff and volunteers. The reason that volunteers can’t just be pulled in to make up for staffing shortages is that the department can’t guarantee when volunteers will be available. Sometimes there are more than is needed—and Carpenter said you never say no to a volunteer—and sometimes there are not enough.
In a medical emergency, Carpenter explained, brain death can start to happen after 4 minutes of a patient being deprived of oxygen. Moravec added, that in a structure fire, what firefighters refer to as flashover, which is the moment when survivability decreases and everything within range begins to combust, happens at 5 minutes.
![Deccan model]()
Deccan computer analysis (see figure) of response times based on distance from the three Bainbridge stations. If you live within a green zone, the EMTs could make it to your house with no problem within the 9-minute time, either from Station 21 or 22, the one on Bucklin Hill. If you live in a yellow zone, you would probably get help in time. If you live in a red zone, you are in trouble. Almost the entire northern part of the Island is colored bright red.
With Station 23 unstaffed, a study last year showed that firefighters and medics currently cannot reach northern parts of the Island within those 4 or 5 minutes, which puts north Islanders at increased risk. But the issue affects everyone on Bainbridge, Teran explained, because adding those six firefighters for 23 increases the staffing of the entire island to the minimum amount required by the department’s operational plan.
Imagine, for example, that someone has a cardiac event up on Agatewood. National standards say eight to ten professionals are required to respond to a CPR event. On this particular day, which happens to be a minimum staffing day, let’s say there are six firefighters on duty. Two volunteers also respond to the scene.
While the BIFD is helping the patient, a call comes in about a fire at Blakely Elementary. There are no firefighters available on the Island at that time because of the medical emergency, which means that the nearest help will come from any additional volunteers driving their own vehicles to the station to grab an engine and from North Kitsap Fire and Rescue in Suquamish or the Poulsbo Fire Department.
Teran said that being on an island “what’s unique to us” is that we are somewhat isolated from additional services. In the cardiac arrest example, backup might be fifteen or twenty minutes away. When EMTs need to take a patient to the hospital, they’re gone from the island and unavailable for 2.5 hours if they’re going to Seattle or about 2 hours if they’re going to Bremerton.
![An engine backs into a bay.]()
Engines have to back into the bay at Station 22.
With the levy, Teran said, the department will have attained what they feel is the minimum level needed to perform their mandated services. In our example, with a passed levy two firefighters would have been available at a station to get an engine to the school right away as the off-island fire services made the journey down 305.
This staffing level is what the Chief called a “minimum safety net.” Kaufman said, “In our 10-year projections we think if we can maintain our revenue at 95 cents for the next 6-7 years, it will pay for the staff we’re hoping to bring on from the general fire levy.”
Teran said, “We’re just trying to get the third leg of the stool.”
The station and capital equipment bond request is needed to rectify serious problems in the department’s infrastructure. A report issued by architectural firm MacKenzie provided analysis of the three fire stations in terms of structure and operations, one built in 1959, one in 1979, and one in 1995.
![Cracked concrete pad.]()
Concrete pad cracked from engine weight at 22.
Teran said that one of the major concerns is that in an earthquake, they won’t “be able to get the trucks out” of the bays. The bays at Station 22 on Bucklin Hill are so short that special vehicles had to be ordered to fit. Because the building is seismically unsound and the floor is already sinking from the weight of more modern and heavier engines, an earthquake could indeed shut down operations at that station.
Station 21, the headquarters on Madison, is also seismically unsound. See Mackenzie’s PowerPoint presentation here.
Teran explained that “in those 56 years” since 22 was built, “our mission has changed from being solely a fire department to spending 80 percent of our efforts on emergency medical services as well as time on natural and human-made disasters (like the sinking of the tugboat in 2013 in Eagle Harbor). And Station 22 “no longer meets that mission.”
![fire station 21]()
Station 21 (photo by Marilyn Gottlieb)
The Chief said also that healthy firefighters cost him less money. And keeping his firefighters healthy involves better air quality and ready access to exercise equipment, which is not ideal at 21 and 22, where firefighters have weight equipment lined up against the walls of the engine bays. A grant enabled the department to install a special exhaust system at 21—hoses hooked up to engines’ exhaust pipes ventilate the carbon monoxide out of the building. But the department’s mechanic still has to work outside under a cover at 22 year-round to maintain the department’s apparatus.
Moravec pointed out that 15 years ago they had 6 paid firefighters. “Now there are 30. We’ve outgrown the facilities.” Currently, he explained, volunteers on duty overnight sometimes have to sleep in a building separate from the building containing the engine bays, adding to response time.
Kaufman added that new stations would be much more energy efficient than the two oldest ones. He said they pay $3,000 per month for power during the winter months at 21 and that they can improve efficiency by 30 percent with a new building.
Teran pointed out that they department proposed a more cost-effective solution, combining facilities with the police department, but “the City said no.”
How the Money Will Be Spent
Kaufman said they are asking the public to issue up to $16 million in bonds to rebuild 21 and 22 and perform some upgrades to 23 including adding beds and upgrades to equipment. MacKenzie reported that it would be more cost effective to rebuild 21 and 22 than to upgrade them. The new buildings will have a 50-year lifespan.
The general levy for staffing would generate an estimated $600,000 to $650,000 per year for new staff (with benefits) and for overtime hiring.
![Station 21]()
Station 21
What It Will Cost You
The BIFD has released an FAQ about the levies, including answers about cost. They report that for the 20-year life of the facilities bond, a home valued at $500,000 would be taxed at about $79 per year. For a $750,000 home the amount would be about $119 per year. A $1 million home would be taxed at $158 per year.
The general levy would add $0.09 per $1,000 of assessed value. It would result in a $45 tax increase to the owner of a $500,000 home. The increase would be $68 per year on a $750,000 home and $90 on a $1 million home.
Challenges
Passage of the facilities bond requires a 40 percent voter turnout with 60 percent of those voters in favor. The four men understand that passage of both measures requires the public to be well informed on the issues. For that reason they are inviting the public to a series of open houses to tour the facilities and ask questions.
Tonight, January 21, from 6 to 8 p.m., is the open house at 23. On Saturday, you can visit 21 from 12 to 2 p.m. and 22 from 2 to 4 p.m. Teran said they were happy to arrange personal tours as well.
When asked what would happen if the measures failed, Teran said, “We’re going to continue to struggle to meet the demands of those who live and work on the island.” He summarized the matter as “a level of service issue.”
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Photos by Marilyn Gottlieb, Julie Hall, and Sarah Lane.
