Seeking emergency changes

Medical Lake Fire Chief Jason Mayfield is not at all bashful about saying he can lose sleep over the service his volunteer department offers citizens.

Perhaps Mayfield will be able to rest easier in the years to come if some type of deal is crafted with Spokane County Fire District No. 3 to take over coverage for the city.

Mayfield, who himself works full-time for American Medical Response, monitors calls, "Every day, every day." He provides a report every month to the Medical Lake City Council.

"That includes the calls we cannot respond to," Mayfield said. "What keeps me up at night and what stresses me out is there may be times when that happens."

It has, he admits, been a rough year.

"We've seen an increase in the number of calls we have missed," Mayfield said. "We're trying every day to find a way to correct that."

From reports Mayfield provides to City Council, recent figures show a high of 30 percent missed calls "due to staff availability" in both July and September. August was at 27 percent, October, 26 percent. The period from January through June was at 20 percent.

There are times when there are not enough volunteers available to run the calls. "We try our best to keep it covered but it doesn't always happen," Mayfield said.

Enter Fire District 3, which surrounds Medical Lake and, like other agencies on the West Plains, works together to cover each other in times of need. And Medical Lake is in that bucket when it comes to fire and EMS.

"We're just constantly looking at ways to improve our service to the city," Mayfield said. Sometimes that takes looking at different avenues, "Looking at things out of the box."

The idea just came up in conversations when agency heads were brainstorming. The question was asked, "What do you think of this idea, would it work," Mayfield said.

There has been conversations with Fire District 3 to look at maybe some future merging, Mayfield said. Right now, that's just theorizing how it all might work. That agency currently has stations in Four Lakes and just south of Lakeland Village, which is inside ML city limits.

"It's nothing that we're committed to at this point," Mayfield said. "It's definitely an interesting avenue."

This is not only seen as a benefit for Medical Lake citizens, but the West Plains as a whole, Mayfield said.

"Out here on the West Plains none of us can really function without each other," Mayfield said. Each is there on fires and when the call volume gets too hectic. "We train together, we run the same fire academy together. It only makes sense if it would benefit the service we provide."

At this point, all options are on the table and the idea is being discussed officially at the next level by a public safety committee which includes Medical Lake City Council members AJ Burton, Tony Harbolt and Don Kennedy. Then it could go to the full council for consideration.

There have been no dollars attached to the potential move at this point. Currently, fire/EMS is budgeted about $250,000, give or take. "It's definitely under $300,000," Mayfield said.

"The annexation of the City into Fire District 3 makes both practical and financial sense, and it paves the way for a possible regional fire authority that combines all of the fire departments and districts within the West Plains," Medical Lake City Administrator Doug Ross wrote in an email.

As much as there can be a resistance to regional services, they become essential for small cities to survive as costs continue to rise and more restrictions are placed on tax increases, he added. 

"The reality is general fund services, including public safety and even parks and recreation, are tax dependent, and while people may not like paying taxes, they are very much necessary for certain services to continue," Ross said.

At the end of the day, if the focus is on services, the color of the trucks and the badge on the shirts doesn't necessarily make a whole lot of difference, Mayfield said.

Mayfield said there could possibly be additional trepidation on having an outside provider handle fire and EMS, kind of like concerns of some residents have with the Spokane County Sheriff's Office providing police services for Medical Lake.

But those who will be affected will have the final say. "If we look at an annexation, it has to go to the voters," Mayfield said.

"The only negative I see for it is Medical Lake is the second-oldest fire department in Spokane County," Mayfield said. "Losing that identity might cause "a little heartburn."

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].