PORT LUDLOW — Since moving to Port Ludlow in 2010, Tom and Jean Belding have had occasion to call 911 for Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue to send an ambulance to their North Bay home.
“I remember it was Mother’s Day in 2013 and it was for my heart,” Tom Belding said. “They were just great. We were really happy about how quickly they arrived.”
The Beldings were among about 10 people gathered in the Olympic Room at the Port Ludlow Resort on Wednesday evening for the last of three in-person informational meetings hosted by Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue to inform residents and answer questions about a proposed merger between it and East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Port Ludlow fire chief Bret Black (who is also EJFR’s chief) has been making presentations to the public, community groups, professional and business organizations since September about the merger, which is being sought by Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue.
Online meetings will be presented by Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue about the proposed merger at 4 p.m. Wednesday, 5 p.m. Oct. 20, 6 p.m. Oct. 25 and 4 p.m. Nov. 1. For the link, go to www.plfr.org/
According to state law, a simple majority of Port Ludlow voters would need to approve the measure which, if approved, would go into effect Jan. 1.
Black explained to the audience that increasing demand for services, aging equipment and understaffing in Port Ludlow led its board of commissioners to seek the merger and that it was unanimously approved by EJFR’s board.
“We have a lot of stacked calls — multiple calls at the same time,” Black said. “Our calls are up 18 percent over last year. Usually you see a 2-t0-3 percent increase.”
Compounding the challenge of the jump in the number of calls is the lack of credentialed firefighters.
“Most days Port Ludlow only has three,” Black said, which is not adequate to staff each of its two fire stations with the minimum of two firefighters each.
When the district responds to a fire or wreck where regulations require more than two firefighters or when its on-duty firefighters are preoccupied with another call, Port Ludlow reaches out to EJFR for emergency assistance through an interlocal agreement that will expire in May 2023.
That arrangement, while it offers both districts the capacity to meet demand for emergency services, also creates the impression that Port Ludlow is capable of doing the job on its own.
“People see us drive up in a red truck and they see the blue uniform; they don’t read the arm patch,” Black said. “They assume it’s their local fire station.”
So, today if the Beldings called 911, it might not be Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue that responded but East Jefferson Fire Rescue.
And, chances are, responders might be driving the same vehicles.
“I have fire engines that are older some firefighters,” Black said. “Port Ludlow ambulances are always breaking down. We’ll have no new vehicles in either agency (Port Ludlow and EJFR) in 2023. We’ve postponed capital expenditures for a long time.”
Port Ludlow and EJFR are currently preparing to place a levy lid lift on the February special election ballot regardless of whether the merger is approved or not, Black said. Should the merger pass, the merged district would ask for the levy lid lift.
That the merged levy would reduce the number of commissioners from 10 (five in Port Ludlow and five in East Jefferson) to five total concerned one man who said that because Port Townsend (which EJFR serves) held the majority of the county’s population, it could through the polls elect commissioners that favor it over other parts of the county.
That would not be the case Black said, because completely new fire districts would be drawn.
“Port Ludlow will always have representation because commissioners must live in their district,” Black said. “So, the commissioner serving Port Ludlow would have to live here.”
The Beldings said they had been presented with far more information than they had expected about the merger and the levy. Their primary concern was that fire and medical emergency services would not decline should a merger happen.
“We’ll have a lot to talk about on the way home,” Tom Belding said.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at Paula.Hunt@soundpublishing.com.
