Finding of safety violations in Camas fire response upheld

Oct. 07--The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries upheld earlier findings of safety violations against the city of Camas stemming from a rescue made by the Camas-Washougal Fire Department earlier this year.

Camas City Administrator Pete Capell said at Monday's city council workshop that the city was notified about the department's decision earlier in the day.

Frank Ameduri, a communications consultant for the division of occupational safety and health with Labor & Industries, said the city has 15 working days from when it receives the decision to decide if it wants to continue with the appeals process. If Camas officials choose to continue with the appeals process, they would go in front of the Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, an independent review board, to make their case. That board could then uphold the original findings and fines, reduce them or get them rid of them completely.

City officials plan to meet with their lawyers in the coming days to figure out a plan.

"We absolutely expected it to be upheld," East Clark Professional Fire Fighters President Adam Brice said. "The rules the employers expect us to follow are clear in our eyes. We were surprised it was appealed in the first place. The rules are in the best interest of the firefighters responding to calls and the citizens we serve."

The department issued three violations against the city, totaling a combined $4,800 in fines. Two of the three violations were listed as "serious" by the state department. Those violations were for having two firefighters enter a building without enough personnel on scene and failing to utilize certain personal protective equipment in the smoke-filled atmosphere. The other violation was listed as "general," stemming from having some old firefighting clothing that was considered too old for use.

Capell said the city isn't disputing the violation for the firefighters failing to use protective equipment. Capell said city officials think the state code on how many people need to be on scene to respond to a fire isn't 100 percent clear, so they are disputing that violation.

He said the old turnouts were found at a fire station and were only being kept around to use during training.

Valentine's Day fire

The dispute between the city and union stems from a Feb. 14 fire at a house on Prune Hill. Fire engine crews in the department are made up of two people, though state law requires at least three to act when responding to a fire. When the two firefighters responded to the Valentine's Day fire, one walked around the house and heard a man inside the garage. The two had to decide whether to rescue the man themselves or follow Washington Administrative Code, which states if "responders find a known rescue situation where immediate action could prevent the loss of life or serious injury, such action shall only be permitted when no less than three personnel (two-in, one-out) are present and equipped to provide emergency assistance or rescue of the team entering the hot zone."

The two broke through the garage door and rescued the man and his dog. City officials said they think the situation is an anomaly, partially because the department was responding to a fire alarm going off instead of a 911 call. Capell said fire alarms are more often than not false alarms if they don't come with a 911 call, and the department sends multiple units to 911 calls.

A few weeks after the fire, the union posted about the incident on Facebook along with their complaints that the city needs to up the staffing levels for the department. When Labor & Industries cited the city for safety violations in May, Camas city officials thought the decision set a dangerous precedent.

Camas-Washougal Fire Department Chief Nick Swinhart said at the time that the decision was "essentially saying Washington firefighters are prohibited from saving lives if there are less than three members on scene."

Budget update

At Monday's council workshop, Camas officials also discussed the 2019-2020 budget, which has plans for some staffing and equipment upgrades to the department. The mayor's recommended biennial budget has room for the hiring of four additional firefighters and one deputy fire marshal. The budget also calls for an ambulance replacement, the purchase of a brush engine and more self-contained breathing apparatus.

"This will probably be the biggest decision point you'll make," Cathy Huber Nickerson, city finance director, told councilors at the workshop.

"It would help us quite a bit," Swinhart said. "We definitely need the positions. It would start slowly adding staffing over the next few years, which is our goal. It would allow us to increase daily staffing."

The four additional firefighters would cost around $450,000 in 2019 and slightly less in 2020, if the proposed budget is approved. Councilors will vote on it in December. Capell said the cost is higher the first year due to cost of fixed costs of equipment for the new firefighters. The deputy fire marshal would cost $111,103 in 2019 and $114,436 in 2020, according to Capell.

Since the department covers Camas and Washougal, Washougal will chip in for the equipment and vehicle upgrades, but Washougal city officials said they won't be able to contribute to the hiring of the new firefighters, since that is an ongoing yearly cost, as opposed to a one-time charge like for the equipment.

"We cannot currently afford the ongoing general fund costs of additional personnel in this program," Washougal City Administrator David Scott wrote in an email. "We are funding these one-time costs from our general fund reserves or fire impact fees, as appropriate. We indicated to Camas that we need to work together to look at the ongoing and future operational and capital facilities needs of this program, and how we mutually address those."

Scott also wrote that Washougal officials still have to pass their 2019 budget, but the proposed budget includes "approximately $146,000 for equipment replacement funded by general fund reserves, and $25,000 in annual cost for debt service for ambulance replacement funded by fire impact fees."

If Camas city councilors approve the budget with those increases to the fire department, Swinhart said the firefighters will most likely be assigned to Station 42 in the Prune Hill area, which he added is the most limited in staffing of the department's three stations. It typically has two people on duty, where as the other stations normally have four. Brice said the union is in favor of the new hirings and placing them at Station 42, but he also said thanks to development north of Lacamas Lake, it might not be enough.

"When houses start filling in, we'll end up with a significant deficiency in level of service," he said.

Both Brice and Swinhart said that a station will be probably be needed north of Lacamas Lake as the area continues to develop.

"The development has already started," Brice said. "It is a real issue we are facing at this moment to maintain some type of service that's adequate to that area. Appropriately staffing Station 42 is a stopgap. (The city) needs to look at putting a station on the north side of the lake."

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