West Mason Fire is Awarded a $64,658 Grant

West Mason Fire was awarded a $64,658 grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. This grant covers 95% of the requested amount, with a 5% match to be paid by West Mason Fire.

These funds, awarded on August 3rd, 2020, will be used to purchase new fire hose, fittings, and nozzles, improving response capability and improving firefighter safety on-scene and during training evolutions.

Fire hose is tested annually in accordance with National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) guidelines, and replaced when those tests fail. Though the NFPA does not require fire hose to be replaced every 10 years, it is strongly recommended. In the past, West Mason Fire has replaced failed sections of hose with the purchase or donation of surplussed hose from other departments around the state who have been fortunate to replace outdated hose with new hose. Fire hose that is currently used by West Mason Fire ranges in years from 1970's to current, and hoses and fittings may not match from apparatus to apparatus, further complicating training and response time.

We are grateful to have received this generous award and look forward to making this necessary update for our community.

For information about the AFG program, visit the FEMA website at: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters/assistance-grants

Why is there an EMS Levy on my August 2020 Ballot?

At West Mason Fire, we have a deep appreciation for

our volunteers and the sacrifices they make to serve our community. We strive to provide an environment that supports their desire to volunteer while balancing other work and family commitments. First responder health and wellness is a high priority, because without responders, we can’t help our neighbors in their times of need. One key component to a first responder health and wellness program is preventing burnout and fatigue, especially among volunteers who are juggling volunteer time with other family and career commitments outside the fire district.

This is where the EMS Levy comes in.

A permanent EMS Levy of $0.50/$1000 of assessed valuation will provide West Mason Fire with funding necessary to hire regular paid staff, trained and certified in emergency medical response.

We are living in an era where the training and time requirements of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians has never been greater, and keeping up with the day-to-day responsibilities such as scheduled maintenance, cleaning, and lawn care can be overly burdensome to the dedicated responders who are trying to balance it all while also fulfilling their home and work responsibilities.

We have been successful in recruitment and retention of dedicated, trained volunteers despite a nationwide decrease of fire service volunteers, but it isn’t enough. The next step in the puzzle of preserving the tradition of volunteerism while moving into a sustainable future is to transition to a combination paid/volunteer staffing model. This may sound counterintuitive to preserving the tradition of volunteerism, but paid staff are able to take on the day-to-day responsibilities and provide additional consistency in leadership and oversight to the volunteers while bolstering response capability and increasing opportunities for generating non-tax-based revenue. This shared load of burden allows the volunteers to dedicate their time to training and response – and then return home to their families and friends when the job is done.

To learn more about why the EMS Levy is important to the future of the district, visit https://www.westmasonfire.org/on-the-ballot, call Chief Welander or any of the Fire Commissioners at (360) 426-7343, join us for Open Office Hours this coming Saturday, July 25th or join us tonight at 6 p.m. for our regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners. Event and meeting information can be found here: https://www.westmasonfire.org/upcoming-events.

We look forward to hearing from you!

What's been changing around here? Find out in our July 2020 Newsletter!

Residents of West Mason Fire will be receiving a newsletter in the upcoming weeks with some updates of how we've grown in the past 5 years, what happened at Station 16-2, and what's on the August ballot.

Also, join us for Open Office Hours, either in person or via Zoom from 11 am to 2 pm at:

Station 16-2 (Shelton Valley Road) -- Saturday 7/18/2020

Station 9-1 (Skokomish Valley Road) -- Saturday 7/25/2020

Learn more about event details here: https://www.westmasonfire.org/upcoming-events

Learn more about the upcoming ballot measure here: https://www.westmasonfire.org/on-the-ballot

Uploading the images of the newsletter distorted some of the text. My sincerest apologies if it is difficult to read on this platform. A slightly sharper version is available on our On the Ballot page, linked above. It will be in the mail next week, and in your mailbox soon!