North Kitsap Fire & Rescue wrapped up 2011 with a total of 2,355 emergency responses. That number is down about 5 percent from 2010 (2,480 responses).

This is likely due, in part, to fewer winter storm events than usual. We’d also like to think that our community is getting safer. We’ll analyze the data further and provide more details when our 2011 Annual Report is published this spring.

In their final meeting of 2011, our fire commissioners signed contracts with employee groups, freezing wage increases for the next three years and sealing the latest in a series of cost-saving measures to help the district maintain service levels as property tax revenues — about 90 percent of district funding — continue to drop.

NKF&R’s employee groups have partnered with district leaders on similar efforts since the beginning of the economic downturn. Personnel agreed to forego a promised cost-of-living increase in 2009 and every year since. Personnel costs comprised 83 percent of NKF&R’s budget in 2010. The district has worked hard to economize in other areas as well, imposing budget discipline in areas such as supplies and utilities charges. Expenses for the district’s apparatus maintenance operation are defrayed by contracting out mechanics’ services to other fire departments.

Other efforts with neighboring agencies have netted savings. Rather than hiring an employee to do the work, NKF&R contracts with the Olympic Educational Service District to provide information technology services at a much lower cost. One facilities maintenance specialist is shared by Bainbridge Island Fire, Poulsbo Fire and NKF&R. The three also conduct joint promotional testing, significantly reducing associated costs to each agency.

Officer development training is jointly funded, allowing each department’s current and future leaders to receive better quality training than could otherwise be afforded. Instead of individually purchasing high-dollar maintenance equipment, the three departments are sharing items such as brake testers and more. Commissioners are actively pursuing further efficiencies in ongoing talks with Poulsbo Fire.

Another source of savings is the deferral of major repairs, improvements and replacement. While that strategy is helping on a temporary basis, it cannot be sustained into the future as the district’s vehicles and facilities age.

Join us on the second Saturday of every month for free car seat checks. The program is made possible by the dedication of our volunteer child passenger safety technicians, donations from our own personnel and a grant from the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s Point Casino.

The next event will take place on Feb. 11, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at our Paul T. Nichol Headquarters Fire Station, 26642 Miller Bay Road NE, Kingston.  A first aid and CPR class will be held Feb. 22 and 23, 6-10 p.m. in our Paul T. Nichol Headquarters Fire Station. Tuition of $40 per student must be paid in advance to reserve a space in the class. For more information, call 297-3619.

Thanks to the same grant from the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s Point Casino, we’ve purchased a limited number of devices to enhance the fire safety of elders who otherwise might not be able to afford over-the-stove automatic fire extinguishers and/or smoke alarms for the hearing impaired.  If you or someone you know might benefit from this opportunity as well as from the accompanying fire safety education, contact me at 297-3619 or laboda@nkfr.org for more information.

— Michele Laboda is public information officer of North Kitsap Fire & Rescue.