SFD units added in West Seattle for bridge closure may become permanent

When the West Seattle Bridge closed for major repairs in 2020, the West Seattle peninsula was made more isolated than usual, raising concerns about emergency services quickly reaching its sprawling neighborhoods.

So the Seattle Fire Department added an extra ladder company at Station 37 in Roxhill and a medic vehicle at Station 26 in South Park, using overtime wages to help support the units during the bridge’s 2 1/2-year closure.

Now the temporary units could become permanent, despite the bridge having reopened in September, reuniting the northern end of the peninsula with the rest of Seattle, because advocates say taking them away would mean risking lives.

Faced with the reality that response times in some neighborhoods could increase by precious minutes without Ladder 13 and Medic 26, according to SFD, the City Council may this week redirect almost $5 million in the 2023 budget proposed by Mayor Bruce Harrell to keep the units in place.

“This is not a new need. This is a longstanding need” that the bridge closure made more urgent and drew attention to, said District 1 Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who represents West Seattle and South Park.

There have been choices to make this budget season for Harrell and the council, who’ve been working to patch future holes in the city’s funds, based on declining projected revenues. Council members are poised to trim certain items from Harrell’s 2023 plan, like expanded graffiti abatement, police-retention initiatives and a jobs center. They voted down a payroll tax hike proposed by Councilmember Kshama Sawant.

Not only would making Ladder 13 and Medic 26 permanent add to SFD’s baseline expenses moving ahead, the units would continue to require overtime support at least through 2023, because SFD is short on staff. Harrell didn’t include the units in his budget plan; he focused on bolstering SFD staffing, Harrell spokesperson Jamie Housen said in an email.

“We do have concerns all the time about individuals working too much,” Chief Harold Scoggins said when The Seattle Times reported in August that SFD had paid out a record $37 million in overtime last year.

But emergency services tend to hold sway with council members who know they can prove priceless for constituents. An added incentive in this instance: Local 27, the union that represents Seattle firefighters, is pushing hard for the units. Plus, the council has district elections next year.

“Ladder 13 is very important,” along with Medic 26, said Kenny Stuart, president of Local 27. “We’re all watching the city continue to grow.”

The council’s budget committee included the units in a package last week, setting them up to be cemented with a vote Tuesday adopting the budget.

“Mayor Harrell is committed to ensuring Seattle communities are safe and are well served” by SFD, Housen said. “We will continue to work with the Seattle Fire Department to assess and address the needs of residents and staff.”

Minutes matter

“WHEEEEEE” the siren on Ladder 13 whined last Tuesday, as the bright red truck pulled out of Station 37 and sped through the rain, equipped to scale buildings, among other specialized duties. Every SFD station houses a fire engine, with the exception of Station 3 at Fishermen’s Terminal, which houses a fire boat, and Station 14 in Sodo. But only some house ladder companies and medic units.

Ladder companies, staffed by four firefighters who are also emergency medical technicians, respond to fires, vehicle extractions and basic life support emergencies. At fires, they’re responsible for search-and-rescue efforts, ventilating structures and reaching high windows. Medic units, staffed by two firefighters who are also paramedics, respond to advanced life support emergencies, like strokes, heart attacks and shootings.

Before the West Seattle Bridge closure, the only ladder company and medic unit in West Seattle and South Park were located at Station 32, in West Seattle Junction, leaving the southern end of the peninsula without immediate coverage — and the entire peninsula without coverage when those two units were pulled away to help with major incidents elsewhere in the city.

From December 2018 to November 2019, the average response time to structure fires was over nine minutes for southern West Seattle and over 11 minutes for South Park, failing to meet national standards, according to an SFD analysis. The average time to advanced life support emergencies was over 12 minutes for South Park, according to the analysis.

Those were some of the longest times in the city, along with other outlying neighborhoods, like Magnolia, Georgetown and Rainier Beach. The southern end of the West Seattle was even referred to as “the dead zone” by some, Ladder 13 firefighter Patrick Dunn said in an off-duty interview.

Times dropped significantly in the area when Ladder 13 and Medic 26 were added in 2020, by minutes in certain cases, and there were modest reductions in some other neighborhoods, too. Major incidents pull SFD units from many neighborhoods, so there can be ripple effects, Dunn noted, saying: “Whenever we add units in any part of the city, we’re helping the whole city.”

Minutes and seconds matter when danger strikes, agreed Allen Goss, recalling the blaze that erupted next door to his house this past summer in Arbor Heights. Though a neighbor died from his injuries, the SFD units that responded, including Ladder 13, were able to stop the fire from growing, said Goss, who emailed the council about Herbold’s budget proposal.

“There were ashes in our yard. It could have very easily spread,” he said.

Staffing challenges

In 2021, Ladder 13 responded to 1,037 calls and Medic 26 responded to 975, below the citywide averages for such units, which are kept particularly busy downtown and in the University District, according to SFD.

A budget amendment sponsored by Herbold and slated for council approval would allocate about $4.7 million in 2023 and earmark about $5.6 million in 2024 for Ladder 13 and Medic 26. Some would be spent to maintain the aging vehicles used by the units, but most would cover overtime staffing costs.

Four employees are assigned to Ladder 13 on regular time each shift, according to spokesperson Kristin Tinsley, but that means there are vacancies elsewhere in the city that must be covered. Medics rotate between units, she said. Ladder 13 and Medic 26 were the No. 3 driver of SFD overtime spending in 2021, behind minimum-staffing needs and COVID-19 work.

Still, Tinsley said, “The cost of staffing these units on overtime is equivalent to paying salaries and benefits of positions.”

Herbold hopes the staffing woes will abate soon, with the pandemic waning and SFD hiring new employees; City Hall has boosted spending on SFD recruits in recent years, she said. Finding applicants is no problem for SFD, Scoggins has said, but training takes time and only some recruits graduate.

The city should have ramped up recruitment sooner to account for a generational wave of retirements everyone knew was coming, Stuart said.

The budget the council adopts Tuesday will include a Herbold-sponsored request for quarterly reports from SFD on staffing and overtime, she said.

Seattle Times staff reporter Sarah Grace Taylor contributed.

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that four employees are assigned to Ladder 13 on regular time each shift, with overtime used to cover resulting vacancies elsewhere in the city, and to reflect that Station 14 has no engine company.