CAMANO: Camano Fire seeks increase in fire levy (SCN)

Isabella Loy reports on the November election for the Stanwood Camano News.

Camano Island Fire & Rescue is currently operating with dwindling personnel, an unstaffed fire station and a whole lot of hope.

The hope is to pass a fire levy lid lift on the upcoming Nov. 7 ballot, allowing Camano Fire to increase the amount of property taxes it collects.

“Ninety percent of our funding comes from the property taxes,” said Chief Levon Yengoyan.

Last year, Camano Fire put a levy on the ballot and it failed. This year, Yengoyan has dedicated all of his extra time to education; providing presentations to any voters willing to listen.

Yengoyan isn’t alone in his efforts. There are groups — including the Mabana Flames and Friends of Camano Island Fire and Rescue — aiming to support Camano Fire and help the levy get passed.

They Said It

“Our mission statement is to support Camano Fire, the volunteers and the south end community that they serve,” said Maria Carlstrom, Mabana Flames president.

“A (South End) fire station would serve the entire community,” Carlstrom said. “And these days I hear more stories about friends and Flames who need to call 911 because we have an aging community on the island.”

“The Mabana station is the only station that we have not updated since it was built in the ‘50s,” Yengoyan said.

“There’s no quarters there,” Yengoyan said. “We need to provide a way for having staff there overnight, 24 hours a day, so we can respond to that part of the island.”

Carlstrom said the idea of a fully staffed Mabana station being in the cards is unbelievable after 50 years of advocation.

“It would be the biggest of achievements that we could ever imagine,” she said. “I’ve worked so hard for so many years, fundraising and helping our firefighters and Camano Fire provide the services that they do for us.”

“The issue is that once the voters approve a levy rate, it establishes an amount that we collect,” Yengoyan said. “In subsequent years, we can only get an additional 1% in revenue of that rate unless we go back to the voters and ask for more.”

“We’re busy, and that revenue isn’t allowing us to keep up with demands for service,” Yengoyan said.

A common misconception, Yengoyan said, is that Camano Fire receives funds from the state and/or Island County.

“That’s often a source of confusion for people because they get their tax bill and it’s an Island County tax bill, and they see Camano Fire on it,” he said. “But really, I always like to say that the county operates like PayPal.”

The county collects money from taxpayers, without taking any cuts, and sends the funds to Camano Fire.

“One of the things that I’m really proud of with we are the only form of government that serves just Camano Island,” Yengoyan said. “One hundred percent of the funds that come to the fire department stays here to serve Camano Island residents and visitors.”

In addition to renovating the Mabana station, Yengoyan hopes to hire more staff with levy funds.

“We’re running a lot of overlapping calls, about 20% of our calls are overlapping calls,” he said. “One call starts when another one is still going.”

“A good example was the large fire we had at the south end of the island in the middle of last month,” Yengoyan said. “We have three units staffed on the island. One was transporting a patient to the hospital. A second was transporting a patient to the hospital and our third unit, our fire engine, was on its way to another medical call when that call came out.”

“We have that often just as we get busier. More and more calls are going on at the same time,” he said. “We just need a lot of resources.”

“The number one thing that we can do for your safety is to put firefighters and paramedics in ambulances,” Yengoyan said.

Yengoyan said that while he hopes the levy passes, he wants everyone to vote, whether they support the lid lift or not.

“I just simply ask you to make sure that you vote either way,” he said. “So we hear from you on what you think of the fire department and the services that you’re getting and what you would like them to be.”

On the Ballot in November 2023