Bainbridge fire officials took a first step toward staffing Station 23 around the clock by unanimously voting to give Fire Chief Hank Teran the go-ahead to immediately hire three new firefighters.
The Bainbridge Island Fire Department will tap its reserve funds to pay for the firefighters at an expected cost of roughly $300,000.
North End residents have been pressing the department to fully staff Station 23, the department’s station on Phelps Road, in recent months. The issue took on added importance last month after a fire destroyed a north end home, and the first units on the scene came from North Kitsap.
At a special meeting Monday called to address staffing issues, fire department officials presented different levy options that would pay for the nine firefighters needed — two each for three shifts — at Station 23.
Board members were divided on whether to hire nine new firefighters, or just six and rely on overtime to fill the other three slots needed to staff Station 23 full time.
Board Chairman Scott Isenman said he was worried about employee burnout by relying too much on overtime.
He also noted that hiring nine new firefighters would give the department a greater pool of emergency responders to call upon during times of crisis.
“Bear in mind when the big one hits, you can call in bodies but you can’t call in overtime,” Isenman said.
Commissioner YongSuk Cho, however, noted that the department’s south end station also relies on employees working overtime to cover 24/7 staffing.
After the vote to immediately hire three new firefighters, board members decided to put off a final decision on how many new firefighters to hire overall.
But not for long.
The board asked for more information on adjusting possible levy rates, with the plan to take action on a resolution later this week, that could result in increased staffing and a continuation of the department’s EMS levy.
Board members asked for two resolutions for Thursday’s meeting; one that would call for a 14-cent increase in the levy rate that would raise the levy from the 2015 rate of 86 cents to $1 (per $1,000 of assessed valuation) and pay for nine new firefighters, or one that would raise the rate by 9 cents to 95 cents (per $1,000 of assessed valuation) and pay for six new firefighters (with the department using firefighters on overtime to cover any remaining openings during shifts).
Board members said they wanted to put the levy before voters in February, along with a bond measure that could pay for new and improved fire halls.
A standing-room-only crowd chimed in repeatedly throughout the board’s discussion, with some of them calling out for higher taxes to pay for complete full-time staffing at the station.
Gina Batali, a North Island resident who has been rallying neighbors to press the fire department for full staffing at Station 23, noted how the attitude had changed on the board over the past few months.
“This is like such a different meeting,” Batali said.
Batali said she trusted fire officials to be prudent with the funds that taxpayers will provide.
“If I had a dollar, I would want this group to spend it,” she said.
Department officials said it would take at least six months of training before Bainbridge saw benefits from the staffing increase, and a full year before the new hires were fully trained on all of the department’s apparatus.
“The sooner we bring them on the sooner we are able to open the doors here,” Assistant Chief Jared Moravec said of Station 23.
Commissioners also asked staff to prepare a resolution that would put a $17.1 million bond measure on the February ballot. Proceeds from the bond sale would pay for the fire hall rebuilding and remodeling project.
