Posted: July 22, 2009 08:45:43 PST
The Bellingham Fire Department has eliminated a rescue program, just one of a number of public services being trimmed away this year to meet City financial challenges. Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike said the community is feeling the impact of declining revenues on direct services.
Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Boyd said he is terminating his department’s technical rescue program, beginning Aug. 1, as part of overall Fire Department staffing reductions. His department has funded and operated the rescue program since 1995, providing technical rescue services county-wide, including confined space rescue, high angle rope rescue and trench rescue.
He said the loss of this service mainly affects people who get trapped or injured while hiking and climbing in our unique urban wilderness areas. It also affects local industries that have relied on public safety responders as part of their requirements to provide rescue capability for employees who must enter confined spaces as part of their work, such as shipyard employees working inside ship mechanical or bilge spaces.
“Technical rescue situations are very rare,” Boyd, one of the department’s original rescue technicians, said. “They are extremely risky, however, for first responders, and safety standards for these operations have become more stringent and costly.”
He said the program has been funded solely by City general fund revenues, at an annual cost exceeding $100,000.
Boyd said City officials explored partnerships with other local fire agencies and affected industries to keep the program going, along with consulting with Washington State Department of Labor and Industries experts, but were not successful in funding it or figuring out a way to staff a team that would meet stringent state requirements at a lower cost.
Two long-time rescue team leaders retired in the past two months, and their expertise will not be replaced. The rest of the rescue team members have been reassigned other duties. Boyd said after Aug. 1, when emergencies require a high angle technical rescue, his responders will request assistance from Bellingham Mountain Rescue Council, a volunteer group run in connection with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
Confined space rescue capability will fall to local industry and agencies who routinely perform these tasks.
“State regulators were very clear that it is the employer’s responsibility to provide for confined space rescue capability, not public safety agencies,” Boyd said. “We regret not being able to continue this service, but it is among several specialty services we are eliminating as we reduce staffing throughout the department. We are honing in on core public safety services that affect the greatest number of Bellingham residents.”
Mayor Pike said the elimination of rescue services is one of many budget reductions being felt by the public.
“Unfortunately, these are among many services we have had to reduce to keep spending in line with our revenues,” he said, “and we’re not seeing any indication that the local economy is turning around.”
Pike has initiated several rounds of budget and service reductions, beginning in late 2008, to address anticipated financial shortfalls. He announced in March that City officials anticipate at least a $6 million budget shortfall in 2010, which could result in eliminating 50-75 employees from the City’s workforce of about 800.
Financial projections announced earlier this year, however, were contingent on 2009 year-end projections holding steady, which now looks doubtful, Pike said. A financial report up-to-date through June 2009 is posted on the City website and is expected to be presented to the Bellingham City Council at its July 27 regular meeting.
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More information about City financial issues:
City officials say more employee and budget reductions ahead
City addressing financial challenges
Media Contacts:
Mayor Dan Pike or Chief Administrative Officer David Webster, 778-8100
Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Boyd, 778-8400
