On Tuesday, the Montesano Fire Department and Grays Harbor Fire District 1 took turns hosting U.S. Rep. Emily Randall (D-WA 06) at their fire stations.
At the Montesano Fire Department, Chief David Busz walked Randall through the reasons why the city’s fire station, which was built in 1979 and state of the art at the time, needs modernized; it’s one of 20 projects that Randall submitted for funding through the Community Project Funding appropriations process for the 2027 fiscal year.
A reason for the modernization is to improve the station’s exhaust and ventilation system. The current passive system was installed in 2017 and isn’t capable of exhausting the bays as quickly as recommended.
“Diesel exhaust, ironically, is one of the largest contributors to firefighter exposure and carcinogens,” said Busz.
Also discussed were the costs of purchasing new apparatuses and bunker gear, and the realities of running a fire department when funding doesn’t keep pace with the cost of equipment.
To Randall’s question of what’s next on the horizon after the fire station is modernized, Busz paused before saying, “That’s a big, big question.” One vision is co-locating all the county resources, such as Grays Harbor 911 and emergency management, into a central location in Montesano.
Busz also shared how Special Operations Rescue Team training was developed in partnership with the Thurston County Special Operations Rescue Team to improve employee and volunteer retention in Grays Harbor County. And he walked Randall through the coverage of their service area and the mutual aid agreements with neighboring fire districts.
A takeaway that Busz emphasized is that “the machine still runs regardless if we have the money or not. The calls are still coming.”
The visit at Grays Harbor Fire District 1, whose service area is 97 square miles, covering 3,000 residents in the Oakville area, opened with Chief Carlton Rhoades taking Randall and Mayor Bill Breedlove on a ride in one of the district’s new ambulances to show how the uneven roadway of U.S. 12 makes for a challenging ride for the EMTs and their patients. “Now imagine us trying to start an IV on somebody,” he said.
In some situations, flying patients to the hospital is the preferred method in spite of the cost.
During the tour, Rhoades explained that the district started doing their own medical transports a year and a half ago after purchasing and retrofitting two used ambulances. When they contracted with American Medical Response, which is based in Lewis County, it could take 90 minutes for patients to arrive at the hospital.
“Now, with us doing our own transports, we are on scene for 10 to 15 minutes, and we’re to the hospital in that half an hour window,” Rhoades said.
The fire department clocks in 500 responses a year, approximately 82% of which are medical transports that average about 25 per month.
Rhoades related the difficulties of rural districts applying for grants and shared a successful project that Grays Harbor County Public Health piloted this year with having a certified medical assistant at the fire station every month through the summer to connect residents with digital health resources.
“As you probably deduced from listening to the chief, we get by with a lot of ingenuity,” said Breedlove. “It’s a lot of chicken wire and chewing gum and the things that we need to do to get it done.”
After the ride, Randall sat with Rhoades, Breedlove and Rich Staley, the superintendent of Oakville School District, to discuss the school-based health clinic that has benefited both families and school staff.
“That’s been a godsend for us,” Staley said. “It’s been a really big deal and I think it’s helped Carlton and his team here as well just because we’re able to serve families and kids in a different way.”
Also being discussed is upgrading the school with solar power and battery storage because it will be used as a rally point in an emergency situation. Breedlove also mentioned the need for road improvements and lighting throughout town.
“It’s good to have a team that’s enthusiastic about figuring out how you solve problems together,” Randall said.
To which Breedlove added, “That’s good, definitely.”
And Rhoades said, “We’re the three unlikely ones to come together, but we do and we meet a lot to talk about our community.”
