July Fourth Follow up

In our 24 hour operational period 8:00 July 4th – 8:00 AM July 5th, SKFR ran 45 emergency incidents. While 45 is a relatively busy shift, it was compounded by the complexity of the incidents we encountered.

We had anticipated our agency would have an uptick of calls and extra units were placed into service. Our volunteer cadre also stationed multiple pieces of apparatus throughout the jurisdiction.

Throughout the day, it was apparent that heat was going to be our biggest factor. With a red flag warning hitting most of Western Washington, Kitsap was not on that list.

At 3:54 PM, we were dispatched to Peacock Hill Road for a Brush Fire, within 2 minutes of being dispatched, it was upgraded by our friends Kitsap 911 to a residential structure fire. At the time of dispatch the temperature was reading 84 degrees outside. Our first arriving units came from our Bethel Station (11) and arrived at 4:07 PM. Within 10 minutes of our crews being on-scene, we had a partial roof collapse of the structure and pulled crews outside for safety measures. This was an extended event due it being a very stubborn fire. Multiple strategies and tactics were used to finally get the fire out. The homeowner had reported that they were missing a cat on the initial report. After 2 hours of suppression efforts, we are happy to report that Remy, the Maine Coon was found alive in the home. The very wet, large kitty was given supplemental oxygen at the scene and transported to an emergency vet in Gig Harbor where a full recovery is expected.

If that wasn’t enough, during this operation, there were multiple calls for brush fires along and around Highway 3 near the airport. We also had a brush fire that went to a 3rd alarm. Department of Natural Resources assumed control of that incident around 10:00PM with additional crews arriving in the morning. Crews assisted from Bremerton Fire Department Key Peninsula Fire Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue – Official Site Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One North Mason Regional Fire Authority

While the brush fires were happening, we set up our agency Emergency Department Operations Center as our dispatch agency was extremely busy and calls were assigned by our DOC to crews.

We are thankful for our neighboring agencies, our volunteer and career staff, our Chaplain, law enforcement, Kitsap County Fire Marshals Office, and finally our citizens.