Gig Harbor Fire Approves Facility Plan, Levy Request Likely

GIG HARBOR, WA — Gig Harbor-area voters are likely to see two requests for funding from Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One in 2022.

Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One's Board of Fire Commissioners on Tuesday approved a finalized version of their Capital Facilities Plan— a proposal to overhaul the department in an effort to meet growing community demand and improve emergency services.

Over the past decade, Gig Harbor's population has grown more than 16 percent, and during that same time Gig Harbor Fire says its call volume has increased by more than half. To keep up, the Capital Facilities Plan suggests several changes. One of the biggest: building a new facility for regular live fire trainings. Currently, the department doesn't have one, so its firefighters only train with live fire once every three years.

“Saving lives and property comes down to three things: firefighters, facilities and apparatus. Some of our facilities don’t support the level of emergency response that our community requires,” Gig Harbor Fire Chief Dennis Doan said.

The Facilities Plan also calls for the total replacement of Station 51 in Gig Harbor, and renovations for Station 58 in Swede Hill and 59 and Artondale, which do not meet ADA or seismic standards. It'd also add new decontamination areas to every station, to help firefighters clean off after fighting fires, reducing their chances of contracting cancer and improving health and safety. Cancer is the leading cause of death among firefighters.

“We have an obligation to provide our firefighters with as safe a working environment as possible,” said Chief Doan. “We can, and must do better.”

In Washington, however, funding to support these kinds of changes needs to be voter approved. As a result, the Board of Fire Commissioners says it considering putting two funding request on the ballot in 2022. The first would simply renew the current levy for emergency medical service, at the previously-approved rate of $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The second would fund the facility improvements, adding $0.24 per $1,000 of assessed property value— about $119 per year for the owner of a $500,000 home, the department said.