County Emergency Responders Finalize Boat Plans

From the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office

As part of a continuing effort to develop a cooperative multi-agency marine emergency response program, plans have been finalized for construction of a new vessel that will replace two boats currently in service in San Juan County. With the decommissioning of both the Fireboat Confidence, owned by San Juan Island Fire District 3, and the Orcas Patrol Boat owned the Sheriff’s Office, the new boat will provide enhanced capability County wide, despite the reduction in total number of vessels.

The proposed new boat will be 35′ long, and will be constructed by Munson Boats of Burlington, WA at a cost of $618,000. It will be berthed in Friday Harbor, and the Sheriff’s vessel Guardian will be moved to Orcas. Funding for construction is entirely through a Federal Port Security grant of $785,000 (unspent funds are returned to the Federal Government).

“This boat will greatly enhance our ability to fight marina and vessel fires,” said San Juan Island Fire Chief Steve Marler, “and gives us a safe and stable option for transporting personnel and equipment to remote locations, outer islands, or to provide support at the request of other islands. Running a marine program is a significant commitment of time and resources, but we feel it is a vital one given the fact that our communities are surrounded by water.”

San Juan Island Fire District 3, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Shaw Island Fire District 5 are the founding members of this cooperative approach that will support all marine response operations in the County going forward, not just the new boat. Said Sheriff Rob Nou, “All of the response agencies in the County were deeply involved in developing this program, but unfortunately, financial constraints have kept San Juan EMS, and Orcas and Lopez Fire Districts from being able to participate as founding members at this time. As always the boats will still be an available resource for those agencies, but they will be charged a per use fee to help offset the expense of funding a safe and sustainable marine program. If they find at a later date that it makes sense for them to join up with the other participating agencies, we certainly welcome their support of this shared effort.”

The new boat will be equipped with a fire nozzle, space for transporting medical patients, and a bow ramp for ease of loading equipment and beach landing access. Said Sheriff Nou, “All of these features have been needed in recent years on actual responses, and we’ve tried to design a boat that is no bigger than what we need, but still meets our basic requirements. Our goal has been to spend tax payer dollars wisely and create a marine program that is locally sustainable over the long term.”

For Shaw Fire Chief Brud Joslin, the decision was a simple one, “We’ve relied on vessel support from the Sheriff and other response agencies over the years, and for us, it makes sense to not only share in the cost of that capability, but to be directly involved in the decision making around training, procedures, and operations. This is a long overdue step forward.“

It is expected that the new vessel will be in service by July of 2014.

Anyone with questions about the new vessel or the cooperative program can contact Fire Chief Steve Marler at 378-5334 or chief@sjifire.org