Published Thursday, February 1, 2024

All Photos are the property of the poster. Photo Credit: Big Lake Fire Department

INCIDENT SUMMARY

SKAGIT COUNTY, WASHINGTON — A residential structure broke out on Wednesday morning with an urgent mutual aid request around 1030 hours, located on Sulphur Springs Road in Mount Vernon.

ARRIVING ON SCENE

The first due unit, BLFD E911 reported to Dispatch about a single-story garage fully engulfed with seven vehicles inside.

MUTUAL AID

More mutual aid arrived and tied in with firefighters on the fire ground, helping put large amounts of water on the fire. With the aid of additional manpower and equipment, firefighters were able to put the fire out and stop the extension of the fire from impacting nearby exposure structures (nearby homes/buildings).

RESOURCES

Big Lake Fire Department (volunteer firefighters): 18 volunteer firefighters, two engines, one ladder truck, one aid car, one rehab, and one utility unit.

Mount Vernon Fire (career firefighters): two Medic units, and one engine.

Clear Lake Fire (volunteer firefighters): one engine.

Cedardale Fire (volunteer firefighters): one engine.

STRUCTURE PROTECTION

Because of the large response, firefighters were able to stop the fire from extending to exposure structures (nearby homes/buildings).

INJURIES

One person was treated at the scene. It is unknown if it was a civilian, occupant, or firefighter.

CAUSE

Big Lake Fire Department did not release the preliminary cause of the fire and states it is still under investigation by the Skagit County Fire Marshal’s Office.

MUTUAL AID

Mutual Aid is basically in layman’s terms asking for help when you are unable to provide sufficient resources in your service area to respond to the emergency. These resources in the Fire Service are called “mutual aid”, where each fire service has a mutual aid interlocal agreement in which they provide additional fire coverage to assist with any emergency or disaster.

There are stringent guidelines for both professional and volunteer fire departments to respond to structure fires which are outlined under the NFPA 1720 (National Fire Protection Association) in which the following staffing and response times should be met.

According to the NFPA 1720 statute, volunteer firefighters should have the capability to safely begin attacking the fire within “two minutes” once they arrive on scene with the all of the equipment they need to fight it, “90%” of the time. It states also that personnel should be organized, so all teams have the apparatus and equipment needed for the fires or other emergencies they are responding to.

The requirements may vary based on the type of area the department must cover and the number of people per square mile within each area.

Urban area: More than 1,000 people per square mile, must have a minimum of 15 firefighters to respond with a response time of nine minutes.

Suburban area: Between 500-1,000 people per square mile, must have 10 staff to respond within 10 minutes.

Rural area: Less than 500 people per square mile, must have six to respond within 14 minutes.

Remote area: Travel distance of 8 or more miles per square mile, must have four staff and depends on the travel distance. 

Some agencies we have spoken to do not adhere to these guidelines both in the volunteer and career sectors. We are unsure what Skagit Fire Agencies are bound to do, but we know they are quick in responding and requesting mutual aid when the time and local resources warrant it to do so. This will be in another future article. Stay tuned for some more great engaging posts!

(c) 2024 NW Fire Blog