GCFD 7 sees improvements in equipment, volunteerism
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
Grant County Fire District 7 was busy in 2023 and did a great deal of work to improve its readiness by upgrading equipment. At the beginning of the year, the average age of its equipment was 43 years, but by the end of the year, that number had reduced to 23 years - making the department's equipment generally more dependable.
COURTESY PHOTO/GCFD 7
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | January 29, 2024 1:49 AM
SOAP LAKE — Grant County Fire District 7 responded to more incidents in less time in 2023 compared to the year before, according to the district’s annual report. GCFD 7 also made strides in equipment and volunteer staffing, according to the district’s annual report, released this month. GCFD 7 covers Soap Lake, Coulee City, the area along SR 17 between the two towns and the High Hill area east of the coulee, according to county records.
2023 saw about a 25% increase in calls to GCFD 7 compared to 2022, according to the report, answering 611 calls versus 2022’s 488. The vast majority of those calls, 416 of them, were non-vehicle accident-related emergency medical service calls. Responders also handled 15 vehicle accidents with injuries and 21 brush or grass fires.
Despite the increased workload, GCFD 7 responded 24% more quickly in 2023 than 2022, the report said, speeding up from an average time of 10.29 minutes to 7.84 minutes. The National Fire Protection Association’s response time minimum for urban areas, defined as areas with a population density of more than 1,000 people per square mile, is nine minutes. This includes the city of Soap Lake, which has a density of 1,043 people per square mile, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. For suburban and rural areas, the NFPA minimum is 10 and 14 minutes respectively.
The district’s equipment had an average age of 43 years at the beginning of 2023, according to the report. Through the Department of Natural Resources’ federal excess property program and some grants and low-interest loans, the district added three fire engines, two brush engines, an ambulance, a tactical tender and a 4X4 command unit. By the end of 2023, the equipment’s average age was 23.
The district was also active in local communities, according to the report. GCFD 7 performed fire and EMS standby at many community events such as Fourth of July activities, fall festivals, and car shows. District EMS personnel performed stand-by at the Soap Lake High School football games free of charge to ensure medical personnel were available for competitive youth sports. District staff attended senior center events and luncheons, and Chief Christopher Baker hosted several events such as Tea with the Chief and meet-and-greets in the community to answer questions about Fire District 7 and to gain valuable relationships.
GCFD 7 started 2023 with 13 volunteers, according to the report, and ended the year with 24. This is significant, Baker wrote in the report, because 65% of firefighters are volunteers.
“We have set a goal of 36 dedicated volunteers in the future and with the continued support of the community we will reach that goal,” he wrote.
MORE STORIES
Fire near Soap Lake destroys property, hospitalizes one
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 7 months, 2 weeks ago
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
FIRST RESPONDER FOCUS: GCSO Sgt. Gary Mansford prepares to step into new role as undersheriff
EPHRATA — If Gary Mansford wasn’t planning on a career in law enforcement, other people certainly were planning it for him. “I got pulled over by a state patrolman one day, and he said that he was told by his sergeant that if anybody's seen me, they were to pull me over and tell me that I needed to test for the State Patrol,” Mansford said. “I knew the patrolman and I knew his sergeant, so I looked into the State Patrol, and then Mike Shay and Dean Mitchell from Moses Lake (Police Department), they were both talking to me as well. So, I tested and got hired by the (Grant County) Sheriff's Office.”
Triple play
EHS Spring Showcase features series of one-act dramas
EPHRATA — Audiences at Ephrata High School’s Spring Showcase will be in for a three-fer when EHS Drama presents three one-act plays. “I had another show in mind,” Director Marla Allsopp said. “But I never quite know what I’m going to have for audition, so I always have some (other scripts) kind of in the back of my mind. I didn’t get the right combo or number of kids for the show I was thinking of, and I had these kind of sitting there. (I said), “I would really love to do these shows I’ve had for a couple of years, and I finally have the right group to do it.’” With a cast of 10, several students appear in two plays, and one, senior Monty Muir, is in all three.
Eco-gardening symposium coming April 5
MOSES LAKE — Here in the Columbia Basin, we have many things in abundance: sunshine, wide open spaces, fine wine, great tacos. What we don’t have in abundance is water. How to grow plants in spite of that lack will be one of the topics of an Eco-Gardening Symposium April 5. “One of our sessions will be on three gardeners who have taken out part or all of their yards to put in drought-tolerant plants,” said WSU Grant-Adams County Master Gardener Diane Escure, co-coordinator of the symposium. “They’re going to be saying, what’s the pros and cons? … Here are the things to be aware of, what are we looking for? What do they experience? We’ll have slides of their before and after landscapes, and what they hope to accomplish.”