MILL CREEK — City and fire district officials have finally agreed how many firefighters should work in Mill Creek and how much the city should pay for them.
Mill Creek and Snohomish County Fire District 7 leaders had been negotiating the issue for most of this year. The city contracts with the district for fire protection service.
A minimum of five people will be working at any time at Fire Station 76, at 1020 153rd Street SE in Mill Creek. At least one of them must be a paramedic. That’s the only fire station in town.
The original contract provided three crew members, City Manager Tim Burns said. That wasn’t enough people to cover all the calls for help in Mill Creek.
The city and the fire district agreed earlier this year to keep five people at the station while they worked out an agreement.
The new contract estimates the city will pay an additional $1.03 million on its contract in 2012. That number would grows to an estimated additional $1.96 million in 2016. The 2010 contract was $1.42 million.
The contract amendment also dictates an average response time of less than 6 minutes for calls for help in the city.
Having five people on duty means the station now has a fully staffed fire engine and emergency medical services vehicle, district spokeswoman Autumn Waite said. The number of calls in which Mill Creek crews were unavailable has dropped by roughly 85 percent.
“The additional staffing has been in place since January, and it is very clear the plan is working,” Waite said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com
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