Snohomish County Fire District 1

Snohomish County Fire District 1 is seeking nominees to fill an expected vacancy on its Board of Fire Commissioners. The board is responsible for defining the fire district’s long-term vision and for adopting policies to be implemented by administrative staff.

Nominees must be registered voters who live within the boundaries of Fire District 1 (unincorporated areas south of Everett and north of Lynnwood and Edmonds including Eastmont, Hilton Lake, Pioneer Trails, Silver Firs north of 148th, Martha Lake, Lake Stickney, Lake Serene, Picnic Point, Norma Beach, Esperance, Hilltop and Mariner).
 
Interested candidates will need to submit an application and a letter of interest by Aug. 31 to Marsha Moore, executive assistant to the Board of Commissioners, Snohomish County Fire District 1 Headquarters, 12425 Meridian Ave., Everett WA 98208. For more information, contact Moore at (425) 551-1200 or mmoore@firedistrict1.org

The vacancy is expected because Commissioner Brian McMahan has announced his plans to resign Sept. 30. At a meeting earlier this month, he told his fellow board members that he anticipates moving to a house outside the boundaries of Fire District 1, which would make him ineligible to continue to serve as an elected commissioner. McMahan has served as a commissioner for more than 12 years. Any candidate appointed to replace McMahan would have to stand for election in the fall 2011 to retain the seat and serve the four years that will remain in McMahan’s six-year term.

Fire District 1 is the largest provider of fire and emergency medical service in Snohomish County, with 12 fire stations staffed around the clock to serve a population of more than 225,000. In addition to serving unincorporated communities within Fire District 1’s boundaries, the department also has long-term contracts to provide service to the cities of Brier, Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace.

---

Learn more about the application process

A 4-year-old boy is recovering at Stevens Hospital tonight after nearly drowning in a swimming pool at a Mountlake Terrace apartment complex this afternoon.

Firefighters responded at 4:33 p.m. to a report of an unconscious child in the pool at the Northern Lights Apartments in the 4400 block of 212th St. SW. The boy’s father pulled the boy from the water, immediately started CPR and the child had regained consciousness by the time firefighters arrived.

“Paramedics believe the father’s quick action helped save the boy’s life. The boy was breathing, but still very pale when firefighters arrived,” said Leslie Hynes, public information officer for Snohomish County Fire District 1, which provides fire and emergency medical service in Mountlake Terrace. “Also, we had very quick medic response. Our medics were on the scene within four minutes and had the boy at Stevens Hospital just 13 minutes after the 9-1-1 call was placed.”

The boy and his family had been visiting friends at the apartment complex when the near drowning occurred. The father told firefighters he had been in the pool watching the 4-year-old and an older child playing on a floating toy just prior to the incident.

“Drowning can happen in a matter of seconds as this case illustrates. The father went to the deep end of the pool to dive in. Before making his dive, he saw that both children were playing on the toy. He told firefighters he dove in and had his head underwater only a few seconds. When he surfaced, the 4-year-old was in the water and unconscious,” Hynes said.

Fire District 1 offers these water safety tips for parents of young children:

• Close adult supervision is key whenever children are in or around water. When there are several adults present and children in or near water, use a Water Watcher card to designate an adult as the Water Watcher to prevent gaps in supervision. While watching children near water, avoid doing things that could distract you such as talking, reading or talking on the phone.
• Put your child in a life jacket when playing in or near the water, on a dock or in a boat, raft or inner tube.
• In all types of water, stay within touching distance of your child at all times.
• Infant and toddler water classes promote water safety and play, but they do not replace supervision. Children are ready for swim lessons at about age four.
• Teach young children to wait for your “OK” before getting into the water.
• Choose areas with lifeguards for swimming and playing. Even with a lifeguard, you will need to watch closely.
• Water wings, rafts or plastic rings are not designed to keep swimmers safe. Never use them in place of a life jacket.

###

Two women safely escaped a fire that destroyed their mobile home and a garage July 11 at a mobile home park south of Everett.

Dispatchers received several calls around 11 p.m. about the fire at Carriage Club Estates in the 13300 block of Highway 99. “Firefighters arrived to find a two-car garage engulfed in flames and a nearby mobile home also on fire,” said Leslie Hynes, public information officer for Snohomish County Fire District 1.

The two residents of the mobile home safely escaped after someone pounded on their door to alert them to the fire. There were no injuries.

Firefighters called for a second alarm shortly after arriving on the scene. “We had two structures on fire, and other mobile homes also in close proximity that we needed to protect as well,” Hynes said.

Firefighters from Fire District 1, Lynnwood and Mukilteo responded to the fire. “They kept the fire from spreading to other homes. They knocked down the fire in the garage within about 20 minutes, but it took about an hour to get the fire in the mobile home under control because hidden flames in between the ceiling and roof kept flaring up,” Hynes said.

Both the garage and the mobile home are a total loss. The garage was used by park management as storage for tools and equipment. The park owners and mobile home residents have insurance. Red Cross responded to assist the mobile home residents.

An investigator from the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s office determined the fire was most likely started by an electrical problem in the garage.
 
####