Fire authority to create Community Response Team
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@masoncounty.com
serve Tahuya.
"The community re-
sponse team consists of
members who are essen-
tial to our response," said
NMRFA public informa-
tion officer Jeromy Hicks.
"While not EMTs and not
firefighters ... the CRT is
As one of its first acts,
the North Mason Regional
Fire Authority (NMRFA)
plans to form a Commu-
nity Response Team to
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utilized to be the first re-
sponder, the" first one on
scene."
A meeting on the pro-
posed Community Re-
sponse Team (CRT) is
scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan.
13 at the Tahuya Fire
Hall at 14880 NE North
Shore Read.
Creating the team is
part of a larger effort by
the fire authority to in-
crease the number of vol-
unteers in the Tahuya
area, Hicks said. The
NMRFA will also be hir-
ing volunteer EMTs and
firefighters and plans to
hire a full-time firefighter
for the Tahuya station.
"The number one goal
is to build volunteers in
that area," he said.
The North Mason Re-
gional Fire Authority was
approved by voters in Ma-
son County Fire Districts
2 and 8 by about 74 per-
cent in November. The
vote authorized the two
districts to consolid.ate
into one regional fire au-
thority.
The authority was offi-
cially formed Jan. 1.
Mason County Fire
District 2 has had a CRT
program in Belfair for
more than 15 years. The
program has been suc-
cessful, RFA chief Beau
Bakken said in a state-
ment.
CRT members do not
fight fires or work on am-
bulances. Rather, they
perform first aid and ini-
tial incident assessments
and management within
their neighborhoods, he
said.
"These members are
predominately closer to
the calls," Hicks said.
"When they are home,
they can immediately re-
spond. They're not com-
ing from a station that can
be farther away."
CRT volunteers are
trained in first aid, CPR,
disaster response, inci-
dent command and fire-
fighting assistance.
Initial CRT training is
limited to 50 hours. Train-
ing is spread out over
three months and is con-
ducted in the evenings, in
Tahuya, on a schedule set
by CRT members.
Ongoing CRT training
is conducted once a month
for two hours.
All training, uniforms,
and response equipment
will be provided by the
NMRFA. Each volunteer
gets a portable radio, a
pager anda uniform.
CRT members must be
at least 16 years of age or
older. Many CRT mem-
bers in Belfair are retir-
ees, Bakken said.
CRT members must
pass a background and
driving check.
Members of the Ma-
son County Community
Emergency Response
Team (CERT) are also
eligible to join the Tahuya
CRT.
The CERT team re-
sponds to emergencies
countywide, while mem-
bers of the CRT will focus
on fire, rescue and medi-
cal emergency response
specifically in Tahuya.
For more information,
go to mcfd2.com or con-
tact volunteer coordinator
Tina Miller at 275-6711
ext. 7, or tmillerhncfd2.
com.
CHAMBER
Continued from page A-17
At our chamber, we look for
ways to connect our members
with each other, whether in per-
son or online.
For example, our members
can now list their own events, job
openings and special discounts
on our website, and we are build-
ing our Facebook "members only"
group so our members will be able
to communicate with each other
regularly.
Whether at a luncheon meet-
ing or online, it is the all-impor-
tant business connections that
help our communities thrive,
At our chamber, we look for ways
to connect our members with each
other, whether in person or on]ineo
and organizations like ours
and the Shelton-Mason County
Chamber of Commerce are
working hard to provide a full
menu of opportunities for our
businesses countywide.
• Stephanie Rowland is the
PRECINCT
Continued from page A-17
The Sheri
pays about
per year
2,400-s
building.
JESFIELD
Construction, Inc.
Serving the North Mason area
since1967
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Re-construction and
home repairs
275-6684
Frank Merrill Belfair, WA
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The SherifFs Office
$14,000
per year to rent the
2,400-square-foot
Barrett
said the SherifFs Of-
fice should save some
money each year on
gasoline costs and
mileage for patrol
cars, because deputies
should make fewer
triRs between Shelton
and Belfair.
"There's a number of
small efficiencies that
are going to be real-
ized," he said.
Increases in popula-
tion and crime in the
North Mason area in-
fluenced the decision
to open a full precinct
in Belfair, Barrett
said.
"The population
drove the crime and
therefore drove our re-
sponsibility to put a
fully capable precinct
president and CEO of the North
Mason Chamber of Commerce.
She also speaks on manners and
etiquette through her company,
Top Dog Etiquette (est. 1998) and
is the author of "Are Bad Man-
ners Driving Your Clients Crazy?"
She can be reached at Stephanie@
up here," he said.
Deputies assigned to
the North Mason pre-
cinct will still need to
drive to Shelton to book
suspects into the Ma-
son County Jail.
Twelve officers will
work out of the facil-
ity, spread between day
and night shifts.
For example, six of-
ricers including four
deputies, a corporal
and a sergeant will be
assigned to day shifts
in North Mason, and
another six officers will
be on night shifts.
Taking into account
sick days, time off, va-
cations and training,
the north and south
precincts will each
have a minimum of two
deputies and a supervi-
sor on duty at all times,
Barrett said.
This is an increase
from the current mini-
mum staffing standard
of three deputies and a
supervisor.
This level of staff-
ing at the North Mason
precinct should be in
place by March, Spurl-
ing said.
Deputies will re-
spond to calls through-
out the county, but
between calls, or at
the beginning of their
shifts, will be assigned
to different neighbor-
hoods or populated ar-
eas, such as Dewatto.
Officers will be en-
couraged to get to know
people and businesses
in the communities
they patrol, Barrett
said.
"We're going to try
to ... through assign-
ment, get officers back
into the communities,"
he said.
So far, feedback
about the new pre-
cinct has been positive,
Salisbury said.
"There has not been
one negative thing
about this office," he
said. "They've been
asking about this for
years."
Page A-18 - Mason County Journal- Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014
