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Firefighters
celebrate successes
By
Jack Kintner
Fire
district 13 marked its first year as part of North Whatcom
Fire and Rescue Service at its annual award banquet last
Saturday. A crowd of over 100 firefighters and their families
and friends gathered at Latitude 49 in Birch Bay.
Guest speaker Tim Birr spoke about the benefits of evolving
fire consolidation. Birr is a division chief with Tualitin
Valley, Oregon, Fire & Rescue, created ten years ago
much like the North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS)
out of three separate fire districts.
Birr was asked to speak on how their consolidation had developed.
“Once the three fire departments got beyond being three
different cultures,” Birr said, “we were able
to thrive in what is a surprisingly competitive environment.”
Birr said they now cover eight cities and have contracts
to serve two more, competing successfully with private companies
by working “faster, cheaper and better. We can’t
get much faster or cheaper, so now we focus on better, which
translates into better training and bend over backward customer
service.” As an example, Birr cited a recent effort
by firefighters Henry Hollander and Leslee Smith of the
Birch Bay station who replaced a door that was too narrow
for the wheelchair of a disabled Birch Bay man at no cost
to him.
NWFRS chief Mike Campbell prefaced the awards part of the
evening with a word of appreciation for the families who
support the firefighters. In return for “a few more
hours” of their time, Campbell offered certificates
so “you can pick a day to fill with honey-do’s
and turn that pager off for once,” a remark greeted
with thunderous applause. Nolan Vance, an ice cream distributor
from Everett who keeps district 13’s freezer well-stocked,
was given $25 to take girlfriend and Birch Bay station volunteer
Lindsay McDonald out to eat.
Retiring firefighters Bill Salter, Paul Tremlin, Pat Miller
and Jerry Lindal were acknowledged with a presentation box
containing an American flag along with uniform emblems and
awards won over their years of service. The evening’s
final award was the first medal of valor ever awarded by
district 13, given to Blaine station Captain Dave Notar
for preventing a man from stabbing a local policeman during
an arrest. In making the presentation Campbell said, “Are
these aid calls dangerous? Absolutely. But we’re here
to protect life, and that’s what Dave did,” as
the crowd rose to its feet for a standing ovation.
Following a video review of the year put together by Jennie
Sand, people were invited to stick around for music by chief
Campbell and the “No Talent” band that also included
division chief Jim Rutherford and firefighter Andrew Fuller,
who brought along two other members of his band called the
Fairlanes, Phil Arnett and Cory DeMent.
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