BELLINGHAM FIRE ANNUAL REPORT

2018

1

2018 provided another busy year for the Bellingham Fire Department. We

welcomed several new members into our department, responded to an ever-increasing number of

calls for service, and took significant steps in evaluating our future needs so that we continue to

deliver the level of service our Community expects.

In January, Dr. Emily Junck joined the Bellingham Fire Department as an associate supervising

physician through a one-year succession plan to become the City’s fulltime supervising physician. Dr.

Junck is working directly with our current supervising physician and medical program director, Dr.

Marvin Wayne, during this transition. Dr. Wayne has served the City of Bellingham and Whatcom

County, directing our EMS services and paramedic program for nearly 45 years, and will continue as

the County medical program director after Dr. Junck fully transitions to the City’s supervising

physician.

Lynn Sterbenz joined the City as our new Emergency Manager. Lynn comes to the City of Bellingham

with very high recommendations, having most recently served as Emergency Manager for Jefferson

County and previously the Cities of Everett, Redmond and Langley. Captain Jay Comfort was

promoted to Assistant Chief in December, having served as interim assistant chief for most of the

year. Chief Comfort has been with the City of Bellingham Fire Department for 28 years and brings a

wealth of institutional knowledge and a wide range of skills to our executive team. Midyear we hired

three new firefighters to fill vacancies due to attrition; Igor Bulanov, Cody Carver, and Tom Kettman

all joined as experienced firefighters and completed an accelerated, lateral fire academy.

In looking to the future, we spent time evaluating the formation of a regional fire authority (RFA).

Through this effort we projected the resource needs and associated revenues to continue our level of

service in the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County Fire District 8. Although, at this time, we

choose not to form an RFA we identified service levels that we will continue to evaluate along with

potential revenue sources. This exploration will continue through the next biennium via a strategic

planning process that will assist us with informed discussions with City Council and Fire District 8

Commissioners.

All of the great work we do in serving you, our community, is made possible with the talent and skill of

each of the men and women of the Bellingham Fire Department; those who are dedicated to

serving this community and Helping People Every Day.

MESSAGE FROM FIRE CHIEF, Bill Newbold

1

OPERATIONS DIVISION

The Operations Section is responsible for providing direct fire and emergency medical services (EMS)

to over 90,000 residents of the City of Bellingham and Fire District 8. These services are provided 24

hours a day out of 8 fire stations located throughout our 50 square mile service area. Each day we

have 32 personnel on duty that include our battalion chief, EMS Captain, 3 paramedic units, and 8

fire companies that cross-staff fire apparatus with basic life support ambulances. To achieve this

staffing, we count on our 120 career City of Bellingham firefighters and paramedics along with 25

volunteer firefighters from Whatcom County Fire District 8.

In 2018 the Operations Division responded to nearly 18,500 calls for service. Calls for service include

fires, medical emergencies, responses to activated alarms, and many other public services that

support our mission of Helping People Every Day.

In 2018 we had a few changes in our EMS Division. Early in the year we welcomed Dr. Emily Junck in

as an associate Supervising Physician and in the fall, we promoted Captain Scott Ryckman to Division

Chief of EMS. We are very enthusiastic to see where these new faces will lead us as we continue to

strive to be a leader in EMS.

Our Training Division was hard at work in 2018 putting on hundreds of hours of continuing education

and training for our operations personnel. In addition to this ongoing training, the division put on a 6-

week career lateral academy, coordinated two volunteer recruit academies and a volunteer pump

operator class.

As we look forward to the future, we will be welcoming a new ladder truck into our fleet to replace a

21 year old ladder truck and starting the ordering process for a new engine to replace our 23 year

old engine. These two purchases represent approximately $2 million investment in our continued

effort to stay response ready.

For further information on 2018 accomplishments and stats, check out the division reports from our

training and EMS division chiefs, as well as our 2018 Incident Data section.

1

LIFE SAFETY DIVISION

The Life Safety Division leads the fire department’s community risk reduction efforts, which are

centered around “the 3 E’s of Fire and Injury Prevention” – Education, Engineering, and Enforcement.

These activities include public education, land use planning, construction plan review, fire alarm and

sprinkler system acceptance testing, new and existing building inspections, hazardous operations

permit review and inspections, fire code enforcement, and the investigation of fires, explosions, and

other hazards. Our division is staffed with five personnel: A Division Chief/Fire Marshal, a Senior Fire

Inspector, two Fire Inspectors, and a Permit Technician. The Life Safety Division is now located at City

Hall directly above the Permit Center. This provides “one-stop shopping” to the development

community and has enhanced our coordination with other City departments.

In 2018, much of the Life Safety Division’s work centered around the vast amount of new construction

presently taking place within Bellingham. Overall, total construction valuation within the City

increased from $171 million in 2017 to $228 million in 2018. For our division, this has translated into an

immense increase in workload. Compared to 2016 totals, the number of fire plan reviews has jumped

94% to 2,154 reviews in 2018. Meanwhile, the number of associated, new construction field

inspections increased from 1,100 inspections to more than 1,700 inspections in 2018.

Despite this large spike in new construction activities, the Life Safety Division dramatically increased

the number of hazardous operations and existing building inspections performed in 2018. Between

2016 and 2018, we more than doubled the number of safety inspections performed each year from

147 to 330 to 825 inspections in 2018. In addition to correcting safety deficiencies during these

inspections, our fire inspectors take pride in providing business owners with valuable fire prevention

tips to help keep their businesses and the public safe.

Efforts were made to expand our fire department’s public education program in 2018. Our Public

Education Group, which is comprised of Life Safety Division personnel, off-duty firefighters, and off-

duty fire dispatchers, delivered fire safety presentations to over 600 second-graders, launched a new

Community CPR program, and held open houses at each of the department’s eight fire stations. The

hands-on CPR courses were especially a hit with high school health classes. We are hopeful that our

free CPR courses will gain greater traction in the community in years to come. The Public Education

Group and our on-duty crews also conducted a variety of outreach activities including fire safety

presentations at apartment complexes and businesses, safety fairs, and fire station tours. These 60

additional activities reached over 3,500 residents.

During the year, Life Safety Division fire investigators conducted 21 structure fire investigations. One

investigation, which was ruled to be arson, was jointly conducted over multiple days with

investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Bellingham Police Department.

The total loss from this fire was determined to be approximately $5 million.

1

EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES DIVISION

The Bellingham Fire Department Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division provides compassionate,

high-quality, evidence-based medical care to the community we serve. The EMS Division is

committed and invested in the planning, development and sustainability of our EMS System.

The end of 2018 marks the retirement of Dr. Marvin Wayne as the Bellingham Fire Department (BFD)

Supervising Physician. Dr. Wayne is widely recognized as a pioneer in the area of EMS and has been

the Medical Program Director (MPD) for BFD since June of 1974. His dedication and passion for EMS

and the BFD cannot be understated. Dr. Wayne will continue his involvement in Whatcom County

EMS as County MPD. We are incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Emily Junck taking the reigns as

Supervising Physician for the BFD and look forward to her leadership and guidance moving forward.

Training for eight new paramedics began in the fall of 2018. Our current class has five Bellingham

Paramedic Students and three students representing Whatcom County Fire District #7. Captain Rob

Stevenson is working closely with Bellingham Technical College (BTC) to obtain accreditation for the

program. Completion of the current class is slated for September 2019, with a second class to

immediately follow. Captain Stevenson will be off the floor as Program Director for these two class

cycles providing oversight of the paramedic program and the accreditation process.

Over the past two and a half years Captain Jeff Brubaker and Intensive Case Manager Andrea Day

have done exemplary work developing and growing the Community Paramedic (CPM) program.

They are working with our EMS system’s highest utilizers to reduce call volume for BFD response units

while concurrently improving the health, safety, and wellbeing of the clients they serve. BFD is

working with Whatcom County to add a second CPM by the third quarter of 2019 and expand

services outside city limits.

2019 promises to be a busy year for the EMS Division as we plan for the future implementation of a

fifth medic unit, work cooperatively with city government to identify staffing and funding for BLS

transport units, and

solidify the future of

cooperative paramedic

training in Whatcom

County. With these large

goals in mind our team is

committed to the

continued delivery of

high-quality, professional

EMS to the citizens of

Bellingham and our

neighboring

communities.

1

TRAINING DIVISION

The Bellingham Fire Department Training Division strives to enhance firefighter safety and

performance through frequent, high quality training based on current industry standards and

regulatory requirements. We are dedicated to providing exceptional emergency services to our

community while ensuring that our firefighters perform at a high level, avoid injury, and return home

safely after each shift. We coordinate and facilitate daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual training to

prepare our firefighters for challenges faced in the line of duty. This training is provided through

educational classes, scenario based training, and multi-company operations.

Bellingham Fire Department and Whatcom County Fire District #8 firefighters completed

approximately 30,000 hours of training in 2018. This included training in Firefighting, EMS, Physical

Fitness, Surface Water Rescue, Motor Vehicle Extrication, Forcible Entry, Marine Firefighting, Firefighter

Survival, Multi-Company Operations, Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting, and other topics.

The Training Division implemented new Learning Management Software through “Rescue Hub” this

year. This online platform has been a tremendous improvement in delivery, tracking, and data

collection for Firefighter Training.

Jason Garat joined the Training Division as the new “Training Captain”. He has more than 20 years of

service in the Bellingham Fire Department, and brings expertise in Firefighting, EMS, Hazardous

Materials, Motor Vehicle Extrication and more. Special thanks to Captain Garat for the work he is

doing to make our Fire Department better.

We facilitated Training for many new Bellingham Fire Department members in 2018. Congratulations

to Collin Smith, Lucas Nardella, John Lewis, Sarah Pernick, Daisy Frearson, Levi Haines, and Tim Van

Dyke for successful completion of their Probationary Year. This group is doing great work out there.

We welcome Igor Bulanov, Cody Carver, and Tom Kettman as new “Lateral Firefighters” into our

Department. The knowledge, skills, abilities, and positive attitude that they bring has been impressive.

We also welcome Alaina Sawaya, Calvin Hoohuli, Luke Kelly, and Alex Khizhnyak into the WCFD #8

Volunteer Firefighter Program, and we are happy to see the return of Cory Crews, Jesse Hoffman,

and Brennan Hamidou after some time away. We have a long history of talent and dedication in the

Bellingham Fire Department, and our new members will contribute to this tradition for years to come.

1

COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION

The Communications Division and the Prospect Communications Center provides County-wide Fire

and Emergency Medical System (EMS) dispatch services to 14 agencies. Fourteen Fire/EMS

Dispatchers, one Communications Operations Officer and one Division Chief provide around the

clock lifesaving emergency fire/medical instructions and triage to 911 callers. While dispatching

emergency Fire/EMS units and monitoring several emergency radio frequencies.

In 2018, Prospect dispatched County wide, 28,613 Fire/EMS emergency incidents, an increase of 965

incidents or 3.49% over 2017's 27,648 incidents.

To meet the significant increase in call demand over the last 10 years, in 2018, Prospect added 2

additional Fire/EMS Dispatchers on a “powershift” to provide an added Fire/EMS Dispatcher during

peak demand hours, between 10:30 am and 10:30 pm. The “powershift” has improved the service

we provide to the public each day when multiple, serious medical/fire calls occur simultaneously and

improved our response to community wide incidents, including wind storms, freeze and snow events.

We continue to improve our data collection and reporting capabilities by supporting the roll out of

the County wide ImageTrend Fire/EMS records management system.

This year we have moved to improve our quality assurance program, training 5 Fire EMS/Dispatchers

as “Q’s” or call reviewers. We are now reviewing all CPR calls and a minimum of 25 calls per week.

This is part of a larger

effort to achieve

ACE accreditation

from the Institute of

Emergency Dispatch

in 2019 and continue

our mission to

provide high quality

Fire/EMS dispatching

services.

1

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIVISION Lynn Sterbenz was hired on October 16, 2018 as the City’s new Emergency Manager. Many of you

may remember Paul Gazdik, who held the position until he moved back to Wisconsin in March of

2018. Robert Vanderyacht from Bellingham PD filled in as Interim Emergency Manager until Lynn

came on board.

In the final quarter of 2018, Lynn was able to accomplish several notable efforts for the Bellingham

Office of Emergency Management (OEM):

• The 2018 update to the City’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan had already

been approved by the State of Washington, Emergency Management Division earlier in the

year. Lynn brought it to the Bellingham City Council and it was approved and adopted in

December 2018.

• The Office of Emergency Management co-created and facilitated a ransomware tech

disruption tabletop exercise with the City’s Information Technology Services Department.

• OEM began the development of a longitudinal emergency preparedness study of Bellingham

in collaboration with Western Washington University’s Resilience Institute/Disaster Risk

Reduction Program.

• OEM initiated an internship program for students obtaining a minor in Disaster Risk Reduction at

the Resilience Institute at Western Washington University. Four interns were brought on for the

winter 2019 quarter, and five are expected for the spring 2019 quarter.

• OEM worked with members of the Whatcom Emergency Communications Group to establish

an Ops-3 Auxiliary Communications Service for the City of Bellingham. In short, this is a

dedicated group of volunteer HAM radio operators whose sole mission is to support

communications for all City departments during emergencies and disasters. OEM has agreed

to sponsor this group.

• OEM worked with the newly formed Bellingham ACS (BACS) group and the City

Communications Manager to complete the installation of HAM radio stations at Fire Stations 1,

2, and 4. Much progress was made to this endeavor and while a small amount of equipment

is pending, site visits and training for an initial cadre of BACS members at each station was

recently accomplished.

• OEM partnered with the State Division of Emergency Management, the Department of Natural

Resources and the Washington Geological Survey to complete a pedestrian evacuation walk

map. This map will be used for public education and outreach to businesses, households,

tourists, and citizens in the tsunami inundation areas of Bellingham to guide them to higher

ground on foot.

• The Bellingham Office of Emergency Management assisted other City departments and the

Whatcom County Division of Emergency Management with several small events in the final

quarter of 2018, including the December 20 windstorm, the ransomware cyber threat on

December 13, and the 9-1-1 outage/EAS alert that occurred December 27.

1

STATION INFORMATION

1

BATTALION 1

ENGINE 1

AID 1

EMS 1

EMS 11O

MEDIC 1

MEDIC 2

9,674 INCIDENTS

IN 2018

STATION 1 1800 BROADWAY

ENGINE 2

AID 2

1,726 INCIDENTS

IN 2018

STATION 2 1590 HARRIS AVE

1

STATION 3 1111 BILLY FRANK JR ST

ENGINE 3

AID 3

3,245 INCIDENTS IN 2018

STATION 4 2306 YEW ST

ENGINE 4

AID 4

2,521 INCIDENTS

IN 2018

1

STATION 5 3315 NORTHWEST AVE

LADDER 5

AID 5

2,235 INCIDENTS IN 2018

MEDIC 10 858 E SMITH RD

MEDIC 10

2,657 INCIDENTS

IN 2018

1

STATION 6 4060 DEEMER ROAD

ENGINE 6

AID 6

2,439 INCIDENTS IN

2018 INCLUDING

The Salish Star

SALISH STAR

1

STATION 31 752 MARINE DRIVE

ENGINE 31

AID 31

1,246 INCIDENTS IN

2018

STATION 34 2600 MCKENZIE ROAD

ENGINE 34

AID 34

878 INCIDENTS IN 2018

1

2018 INCIDENT DATA

1

FIRE RESPONSE AREA

1

BELLINGHAM FIRE DEPARTMENT

4 MINUTE TRAVEL RESPONSE TIME PERCENTAGE+

WHATCOM FIRE DISTRICT 8

6.5 MINUTE TRAVEL RESPONSE TIME PERCENTAGE

1

RESPONSES PER APPARATUS

Data does not include 365 calls

from 1/1/2018 – 1/8/2018

1

INCIDENTS BY TYPE Data does not include 365 calls

from 1/1/2018 – 1/8/2018

1

EMERGENCY RESPONSE STATISTICS

1

FIRE RESPONSE TYPES

1

BUILDING FIRES BY OCCUPANCY TYPE

1

TURNOUT TIME BY UNIT

TIME FROM DISPATCH TO ENROUTE

TIME FROM ENROUTE TO SCENE

1

EMERGENCY RESPONSE STATISTICS

EMS

1

PARAMEDIC INCIDENTS

1

PARAMEDIC INCIDENTS BY TYPE

1

PARAMEDIC RESPONSE SUMMARY

1

MEDIC RESPONSE TIME INFO

TIME FROM DISPATCH TO ENROUTE

TIME FROM ENROUTE TO SCENE