People have been asking us about the upcoming vote on the operations and maintenance tax levy for Vashon Island Fire & Rescue.

Just like parks and schools, the levy renewal decision comes up every six years and we’re here with facts that will hopefully help you decide to vote yes again.

Why trust us?

We have decades of experience in fire department operations, medical care, and tax finances and we have lived on Vashon for many years. That deep knowledge and love for our community inspired us to step forward as co-chairs of the citizen committee for a safer Vashon.

Fact: Island life has its medical care challenges. All of us knew that when we came here.

No hospital. No after-hours or weekend clinic. In fact, VIFR is Vashon’s only 24/7/365 emergency medical response. Mainland fire departments can call extra units from a neighboring fire department 10 minutes away by freeway. On Vashon, additional help is at least an hour away by ferry.

Fact: Life-threatening events require an all-out VIFR response to support our wonderful King County Medic One paramedics.

For a cardiac event, for example, paramedics intubate, work with the hospital doctor, administer defibrillation shocks, and inject medicines. VIFR EMTs rotate chest compressions every two minutes, squeeze the breathing bag, call for a helicopter, and lift the patient into the ambulance while CPR continues. The more people helping with the resuscitation, the better the outcome. Renewing the levy will give VIFR the people it needs to do the job.

Fact: Fighting a house fire takes more people than we usually have on duty.

State firefighter safety laws require four certified firefighters in order to enter a burning house to fight fire —two go in, and two stand by if rescue is needed. Again, unlike mainland fire departments, VIFR can’t call for more help from a neighboring department. By the time off-island help arrives by ferry, a house would be ashes. Vashon will never have as many resources as a mainland department, but we can improve VIFR capacity.

Fact: VIFR has more than 250 simultaneous calls per year.

If off-island help isn’t coming, we need to do the best we can with what we’ve got. At present staffing levels, even one or two calls saps the depth needed for even basic medical or fire responses. Even worse, if one of those calls requires transporting a patient to a hospital, that ambulance and two people are out of service for three hours. Remember, extra help is at least an hour away by ferry.

Fact: Hundreds of us face 30% to 100% increases in fire insurance premiums if the levy renewal fails.

The state’s official fire risk rating board knows about these staffing challenges. If the levy fails, a downgraded fire risk rating will raise fire insurance premiums on Maury and south Vashon. But, if the levy passes, the Burton fire station can be staffed, preventing those insurance increases. Hundreds of families will save far more dollars on fire insurance than they will have to pay for the renewed VIFR levy tax rate.

Fact: Volunteer firefighters are scarce and who could blame them?

We all would love to have more volunteer firefighters. Here’s the problem, and it’s true everywhere in the country: Very few people can put in the required 600 hours of training to become a level one firefighter and EMT. That’s not counting monthly drills and other training to stay current. The days are gone when volunteers were issued a fire helmet and turnout gear and rolled out on the next fire call. The old way wasn’t safe for the volunteer or for the homeowner.

Fact: At some point, it’s less expensive to buy new fire trucks than fix obsolete ones. The renewed fire levy will pay for modern reliable equipment.

Two of the VIFR fire trucks are more than 25 years old. You can’t buy parts for them. The only way to fix them is to pay a machine shop to custom fabricate the parts. Don’t even mention the 30-year-old rescue unit converted from a beer delivery truck. Other fire agencies in our region have done the math and they replace equipment before 20 years in service because it just makes financial sense. It’s a potential disaster if a fire truck or ambulance breaks down on a 911 call.

Fact: We don’t have a city. Our special district property taxes are the only way for us to have fire/rescue, parks, schools, and roads.

Yes, paying those taxes for community services hurts, but think about where we’d be without them. It’s a price worth paying to live here, especially because Proposition 1 will be an investment in a safer Vashon.

Gary English is a 30-plus year retired Deputy Chief for Seattle City Fire. Dr. Jim Bristow is a Medical Reserve Corps doctor who led the island’s testing and vaccination operations during the pandemic. Ron Smothermon is a tax activist who has attended virtually every VIFR budget and planning meeting for the last eight years.

For more information from the committee supporting the levy, visit forasafervashon.org.