Fire Union and Fire Commissioner Disagree

Several members of the LFP City Council strongly urged the Northshore Fire Commissioners to "slow this process down" in a recent Zoom meeting. 

The Northshore Fire District, which serves Lake Forest Park and Kenmore, is shown in blue above. The Shoreline Contract would contract services with the Shoreline Fire Department, shown in green above. The Eastside Contract would contract services headquartered down in Issaquah, shown by the red 'X' above.

Northshore and Shoreline Fire districts have trained together for many years in a Joint Training Divison and respond in each other's districts far more often than Northshore responds in Eastside's district. They already know each other's areas well when seconds count. 

According to Dave Maehren, Northshore Fire Commissioner, "The labor group in the past has said they would accept either the Shoreline or Eastside option."

Yet, Jeremiah Ingersoll, President of Northshore Firefighters Local 2459, states " The Northshore Firefighters Local 2459 supports thoughtful consolidations that provide operational efficiencies with other agencies that share borders. It is the Northshore Firefighters position that the Shoreline Fire Department is the best option for those services as the only other option is Eastside Fire and Rescue headquartered in Issaquah WA. The Shoreline proposal is the only option that all current Northshore Fire Dept employees keep their job, and outlines increases in service to our communities. While the Eastside Fire and Rescue proposal does not include employment opportunities for most of our administrative staff and has recommendations for decreasing service levels to save money."

More info: https://keepnorthshorefirelocal.com/

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