Camano Island Fire & Rescue (CIFR) has provided Fire Suppression, Medical and Rescue services to the residents of Camano Island since 1945. Originally three separate Fire Districts, an island-wide Fire District was formed in 1992. Since then, extremely rapid growth has increased Camano Island's population, number of structures and traffic. Consequently its demand for Fire & Rescue services has increased dramatically.
Evidence of our growth can be found in the 100% increase in the number of responses between 1996 and 2003. This increase in demand has resulted in several major changes for Camano Island Fire & Rescue. In 1993 the first paid Fire Chief was hired and in 1998 the first paid firefighters were hired. Currently our team consists of 35 career firefighters and paramedic/firefighters, over 20 part-time firefighters, approximately 35 volunteer firefighters, and 10 career administrative and support employees. We are also fortunate to have a full-time maintenance team and fabrication shop.
Camano Island Fire & Rescue has also entered into a contract with the City of Stanwood for paramedic and ambulance services as Stanwood Camano Medic One. With the voter-approved levy increase from $0.75 per $1,000 assessed value to $1.25 per $1,000 assessed value and the $.50 per $1,000 Emergency Medical Services levy, Camano Island Fire & Rescue implemented a Fire-Based EMS program which provides dedicated paramedic and ambulance services for Camano Island residents which started January 1st, 2006. This led to an interlocal agreement for CIFR to manage the City's fire department, allowing bothe departments to operate as one, decreasing the potential of duplicating services and improving both departments response capabilities.
Significant changes have not been made, however, to Camano Island Fire & Rescue's five fire stations. The headquarters station at Terry's Corner and satellite stations at Country Club, Madrona Beach, Mabana and Camano City were all built between 1945 and 1975. Only the Country Club Station is capable of housing staff overnight, a necessity when hiring paid firefighting and EMS personnel.
In addition to enabling Camano Island Fire & Rescue's ability to meet growing service demands, new Federal and State structural codes and safety requirements have made assessing all of Camano Island's fire facilities an urgent issue. Camano Island residents need to be confident that their fire and rescue personnel will be able to operate effectively in the event of a catastrophe such as a major earthquake. This can only happen if Camano Island's fire facilities are structurally able to withstand such an event. The five elected Camano Island Fire Commissioners and the Fire Chief foresaw this need and requested bids from several firms to assess all Camano Island fire facilities and develop a Long Range Facilities Study. This study will enable the Fire District to meet the critical fire suppression, medical, rescue and emergency management needs of Camano Island residents through the year 2020.
Click here to find out more about our recently approved Facilities and Equipment Bond.