EVERETT — Mill Creek city officials have raised concerns about South County Fire’s new deployment plan that removes two paramedics from the city’s fire station.
On Aug. 1, South County Fire announced the department-wide plan that included moving the paramedics from Mill Creek Fire Station 76 to Martha Lake Fire Station 21 in Lynnwood. In the announcement, South County Fire spokesperson Christie Veley said the plan’s changes would increase the number of paramedics in Mill Creek’s surrounding area from five to seven.
But Mill Creek Mayor Brian Holtzclaw is concerned about reduced service quality and a lack of communication from the fire authority, he said in a Wednesday letter to the South County Fire Board of Commissioners on behalf of the City Council. In the letter, Holtzclaw said the city learned about the reduced staffing through a public comment by a local resident in early July.
“Whether deliberate or unintentional, it points to a lack of transparency,” he said.
In a statement Friday, Veley said South County Fire had been discussing the deployment changes in public meetings for more than a year. The fire authority first told the city about specific changes at a July 22 meeting with staff, she said. The model went into effect in mid-July.
“We absolutely believe we could have and should have communicated better and are committed to doing that in the future,” Veley said.
In April 2022, 75% of Mill Creek voters approved annexation into South County Fire. Communications to voters before annexation said Station 76 would continue to be staffed at the same level after annexation. Holtzclaw said the city and South County Fire mutually agreed on including the statement in public education materials.
“Our concern is that South County Fire views this problem as a hiccup in communication of its intentions,” Holtzclaw said. “This is not merely a communication problem. Rather, the City views it as an alarming breach of South County Fire’s commitment made to the voters of Mill Creek.”
South County Fire kept staffing levels the same immediately following annexation, Veley said. Data showed that paramedics at Station 76 were responding outside of the city nearly 69% of the time, she said.
“It would be irresponsible for any fire department to promise to keep the same staffing forever,” Veley said. “Our communities and societies do not remain static over time, and after three years, neither can our deployment for life-saving services.”
The fire authority reviewed response times, traffic patterns, staffing levels, fire engine reliability and ambulance reliability to make the staffing changes, Veley said.
“Hundreds and hundreds of hours over more than a year have been spent to create this response model,” she said. “This has been a very thorough process that has been taken very seriously.”
In 2011, Mill Creek voters approved an emergency medical services levy that increased the station’s staffing from three to five employees. Under the new model, staffing would drop back to three.
After annexation, South County Fire added the second paramedic at Station 76. Holtzclaw raised concerns that response times would increase under the new model. At a July 25 council meeting, Assistant Chief Jason Isolato said South County Fire did not review Mill Creek’s December 2024 growth plan when creating the model.
“Consequently, we believe flawed data was used to reduce staffing by 40% with no paramedics at Station 76 when past studies and actions were to maintain and even increase the number of paramedics at Station 76,” Holtzclaw said.
South County Fire believes the new model will decrease response times and improve services to all areas of Mill Creek, Veley said.
“Our priority is and has always been to provide Mill Creek with the very best service possible,” she said. “Firefighters solve problems. We will work through this to find a solution that ensures Mill Creek residents feel safe and heard.”
Mill Creek was the first city to annex into South County Fire after Fire District 1 merged with the Lynnwood Fire Department to create the fire authority in 2017. Since 2022, Brier, Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds have annexed into South County Fire.
When a city annexes into South County Fire, it appoints a liaison for two years until residents can run for a seat on the Board of Commissioners. In an interview Friday, Holtzclaw said he was concerned South County Fire announced the new response model after Mill Creek’s liaison term ended in 2024 and after the May 12 filing deadline to run for the board.
“It’s concerning that those changes happen after we have representation there at the fire district through the annexation process,” he said.
Ed Widdis, who holds Position 6 on the South County Fire Board of Commissioners, is a Mill Creek resident. His term expires at the end of 2027.
“Mill Creek residents are also eligible to vote in the general election on every board position, regardless of district,” Veley said.
South County Fire should immediately restore the two paramedics, Holtzclaw said. Then, he said, the city would be open to discussing the redeployment of one paramedic.
On Aug. 8, the Board of Commissioners’ Intergovernmental Affairs Committee requested a meeting with representatives from Mill Creek City Council. Holtzclaw said in his letter that he does not see a reason to meet unless restoration of five-person staffing is on the agenda.
“In my 12 years on the council, I’m not sure I’ve seen an issue that has had this much response from the community,” Holtzclaw said Friday. “There’s a lot of frustration and anger right now as to how this could have been done, or why it was done given the promise they feel was made to them when they were asked to annex.”
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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