At an open house at Fire Station 55 on Saturday, children lined up to clamor into the driver’s seat of Vashon Island Fire & Rescue’s latest acquisition — a shiny new fire truck that arrived on Vashon last week.
The engine was one of several draws to the open house, which also featured a pancake breakfast served up by local Rotarians, a firehouse-themed bouncy castle, and CPR training exercises led by a mascot, Sparky the Fire Dog.
Representatives of VashonBePrepared and the Sam Yates Community Foundation were also on hand to talk to attendees about emergency preparedness and share the latest news about automated external defibrillators (AEDs) installed on island Vashon sports fields.
At another table, islanders learned more about the fire district’s Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) program, a home health care service launched in February to provide care to medically vulnerable islanders. The program’s registered nurse, Ashley Soares, and its administrator, Lilie Corroon, talked to islanders about some of the program’s latest efforts, which have included providing home vaccinations for islanders needing the most recent COVID booster and flu shots.
New fire truck
The new fire engine arrived on Vashon on Oct. 2, rolling off the Tahlequah ferry dock and bound for its new home at Station 55 on Bank Road.
At the station, Vashon’s firefighters and EMTs were waiting in formation to greet the rig — and once it was parked, eagerly swarmed around, atop, and inside it, checking out all its features.
The handsome modern apparatus can carry 725 gallons of water and 25 gallons of foam, deliverable to fire scenes with a 1500-gallon-per-minute pump — a significant upgrade from the engine it replaced.
In October 2023, fire district commissioners voted unanimously to approve the purchase of the new engine at a total cost of $886,000, including sales tax.
The engine was purchased with funds taken from the district’s fleet reserve fund, resulting in a pre-payment discount of approximately $25,000.
Their board’s decision came on the heels of learning that two of the district’s engines at that time — both 23 years old — had failed their annual pump tests and were immediately taken out of service. Given the advanced age and condition of the aging vehicles, the district authorized the repair of only one of them, which will now be parked at the district’s Station 56, in Burton.
The new engine, a stock Pierce Enforcer Pumper truck purchased from Hughes Fire Equipment in Tacoma, was readied for service by Pierce Manufacturing, at its Florida plant.
From there, the engine made a cross-country trip to Hughes Fire Equipment headquarters in Tacoma, for some slight customization both inside and outside the vehicle, including making it a bit more rugged for use in a rural island setting.
Originally expected to arrive in August, the truck took just over a month longer to arrive on Vashon. But still, Vinci said, the island was extremely fortunate to get it as fast as it did.
“There are a lot of agencies that are waiting three, four years for a build of this truck,” he said. “We were able to get a stock build slot and make some modifications to make that truck come onto Vashon — so we’re excited.”
With the purchase made possible by the passage of the fire district’s levy measure last year, the new fire truck is a life-saving acquisition, said Vinci.
“Our staff have a really solid piece of equipment to carry out their mission, and that’s what we ask them to do every day they come into work,” he said. “… It has a public safety impact, a firefighter safety impact, and ultimately, what’s best to have the best possible outcome for the citizens we serve 24/7/365,” he said.
Mobile Integrated Health
Currently, the MIH program — which provides care with no out-of-pocket expenses to islanders — offers appointments to islanders two days a week, but is currently in the process of staffing up to add a licensed social worker and additional registered nurse to expand its hours to three full days a week.
MIH is a King County program, partially funded by an already-existing EMS levy, with the balance of its revenue made possible by local voters’ approval, in 2023, of a levy lid-lift measure for the district.
The program serves islanders in their own homes with a wide variety of needs, including but not limited to follow-up visits after surgery, wound care, fall prevention assessment, nutrition and wellness checks, and connecting islanders to ongoing support.
Other plans for early 2025 include hiring a physician’s assistant (PA) to work under the supervision of the program’s medical director, Cameron Buck. The PA, said Fire Chief Matt Vinci, will also be able to treat and diagnose islanders seeking urgent walk-in care in a new state-of-the-art examination room at Station 55 — part of a major renovation now underway at the fire station.
The expansion of the MIH program was endorsed at an Aug. 12 fire board meeting, when commissioners approved the program’s expansion to three days a week and also greenlighted Vinci to seek funding to build out the program in a much more significant way to establish MIH as a seven-day-a-week urgent care provider in 2025.
On Oct. 1, DispatchHealth, a national for-profit urgent care mobile care service provider, also began seven-day-a-week, eight-hour-a-day service on Vashon. That program is funded by Vashon’s Health Care District and is not affiliated with VIFR.
Vashon Island Fire Rescue’s new fire truck rolled off the Chetzemoka ferry and onto Vashon last week. (Elizabeth Shepherd photo)
Family-friendly fun at the fire district’s open house included a pancake breakfast served by local Rotarians and a firehouse-themed bouncy castle. (Tom Hughes photo)
Administrator Lilie Corroon, with her sleeping baby Ruby in tow, and registered nurse Ashley Soares answered islanders’ questions about Mobile Integrated Health at the open house. (Elizabeth Shepherd photo)
(Left to right) Division Chief Ben Davidson, Captain Josh Munger, and Fire Chief Matt Vinci, at the fire district’s open house. (Elizabeth Shepherd photo)
