SEQUIM — The Sequim City Council and commissioners with Clallam County Fire District 3 have agreed to work together on emergency management training and operations while sharing some resources such as labor and storage.
Both the city and district decided, in separate meetings last week, to increase their partnership in dire situations through an interlocal agreement.
“Fire District 3 has always been a fabulous partner,” Sequim Police Chief Sheri Crain said at the Jan. 14 council meeting.
“This allows us to take that to the next level.”
Fire Chief Ben Andrews agreed in a separate interview, saying the pact formalizes a lot of what they’ve been discussing and doing for a while.
“It’s nice to have it nailed in place,” he said.
Crain said a list of ways to partner has existed for years but the nexus for formalizing an agreement was for emergency management services.
Key points in the contract stipulate the agencies will:
• Provide recruitment, training and retention for Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and Map Your Neighborhood (MYN).
• Jointly operate the city’s Emergency Operations Center, EOC/Area Command Center, ACC.
• Share joint emergency management training costs.
• Obtain equipment for the fire district with the city’s Defense Logistics Agency agreement.
• Exchange resources on a case-by case basis for items, such as labor, equipment and materials.
The agreement goes into effect Feb. 1 for five years or until it is terminated by either agency, and will be reviewed annually each December.
Local response
Crain said the Emergency Operations Center next to the Sequim Civic Center at the Clallam Transit Center will be a regional resource if a massive quake or some other natural diaster were to occur.
The agreement allows for sharing training, establishing roles and recruiting more CERT members in Sequim.
Andrews said the fire department has used its training room as an EOC and “it didn’t make sense to update it when we they’ve got one three blocks away.”
Both entities will provide up to 20 personnel trained in an emergency to help operate the EOC, too. Training under the National Incident Management System will allow either organization’s staff to be interchangeable during an emergency, the agreement says.
Part of the agreement includes the city providing a one-time amount of up to $10,000 to support CERT members in the city. City staff will review the amount annually for Sequim’s budget.
Fire officials will continue to train CERT members in the city in its recently adopted neighborhood boundaries.
Andrews said the agreement streamlines management of CERT and avoids duplicating management coordination of it in the city.
Crain told council members that the agreement allows certain repairs to city’s public service vehicles, such as light replacements, to be done at the fire district’s maintenance building on Carlsborg Road rather than the city having to find the service off the Olympic Peninsula.
The fire district will be compensated for its time, the agreement says, and the maximum amount of payable work is up to $50,000 in a calendar year.
“The maintenance aspect was a no-brainer to us,” Andrews said. “We have a very unique resource with mechanics who are certified for emergency vehicles. They can help the city from time to time.”
He doesn’t anticipate the city turning to the fire district often, but sees it as a convenience for the city.
Crain said the fire district’s Carlsborg maintenance area could house emergency equipment for the Emergency Operations Center, such as a mobile kitchen and/or generator that could serve the region, if needed.
City Council members unanimously approved the interlocal agreement Jan. 14, with Ted Miller saying he’s “enthusiastically in favor of this proposal” and that he wants more interlocal agreements with more agencies of a similar nature to occur.
For more information on the agreement, visit www.sequimwa.gov or call the city of Sequim at 360-683-4139 or Clallam County Fire District 3 at 360-683-4242.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
