WA Department Staffs Two Engines after Grant

EAST WENATCHEE, WA — Douglas County Fire District 2 fully staffed two fire engines Thursday, a first in its history.

With new additions to its staff, the department has begun staffing two engine companies — four firefighters per engine, said Chief Dave Baker. The firefighters are funded by a $1 million FEMA grant awarded to the district in October.

“That has given us a boost in the arm for staffing,” Baker said on Friday. “Right now we are over double our staff in the last six years.”

The district is up to 21 career firefighters, compared to just nine when Baker assumed command in 2013. Add in resident firefighters, and the district is able to staff the station with eight firefighters per shift.

To make room, the district converted a training room into a dormitory.

“Right now we are just packed into this station,” Baker said.

But the tight quarters should be a relatively short-lived problem. Baker expects to break ground in the spring on a new fire station less than a mile southeast of the Odabashian Bridge. It should be built by spring 2021.

“We just need to get that station built so we can stretch out,” Baker said.

And with increased personnel comes an increased response.

An agreement with Chelan County Fire District 1 requiring them to respond to fire and aid calls in Douglas County Fire District 2 will remain in place, with the exception of aid calls in the district’s north end, Baker said.

“In the fire service world, it’s huge,” Baker said of the district’s increased response capabilities. “Prior to having this, we would have one engine respond … and they would have to wait for help to come from across the river.”

For Baker, this is part of a three-point plan, much of which made possible by a 2016 levy, to make a more effective district: increase staffing, provide facilities for the larger staff and maintain funds to buy new equipment.

“And this is just the beginning,” Baker said. “We’ll continue to grow for a long time.”

Following construction of the north end station, the district intends to replace its Rock Island station, add more firefighters and to eventually buy land for training.

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