DARRINGTON — A good internet connection is subject to the whims of a local cell tower at Darrington Fire Station No. 38.
The station, Fire Chief Joel Johnson said, is essentially a “glorified hot spot.”
“Even sitting on a Zoom call, it has to be a good day for that to work,” Johnson said.
Through a $17 million federal grant, the fire station — along with a library and 4,000 households — will soon have access to high-speed internet from Ziply Fiber. Done in concert with the Washington State Broadband Office, it will connect people to high-speed fiber internet in the Highway 530 corridor.
The grant calls for “Community Anchor Institutions” — service areas at emergency services, libraries, medical facilities and community organizations.
A map outlining the SR 530 Broadband Project is on display on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at Darrington Fire District Station 38 outside Darrington, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Snohomish County leadership and Ziply employees held a groundbreaking Wednesday outside Darrington. Fire Station No. 38 is a satellite station for the fire department. Its main headquarters in town has reliable internet.
But even at HQ, reliable internet was only installed last year.
“If there’s any sort of cell phone tower issues up on the mountain behind us, that causes the issue of connectivity to our dispatch center between each station,” Johnson said.
Snohomish County Council members Nate Nehring and Sam Low helped spearhead the project. Nehring’s district covers northern Snohomish County and includes both Arlington and Darrington. He’s also part of the Broadband Action Team, which includes County Executive Dave Somers and seeks to provide better internet to rural Snohomish County.
“We have many more projects in the pipeline,” Nehring said. “I’m excited to see where those go.”
Snohomish County Council Vice Chair Nate Nehring speaks during a press conference and groundbreaking for the SR 530 Broadband Project on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at Darrington Fire District Station 38 outside Darrington, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Nehring highlighted some of the benefits, including access to telehealth options. Darrington lost its only pharmacy last summer. Lois Langer Thompson, executive director of Sno-Isle Libraries, said some Darrington residents came to the local library to figure out how to get their prescriptions shipped after the pharmacy closed.
The library fills in critical gaps for people constantly. Sno-Isle’s IT staff have worked for years on internet at the Darrington library. After the 2014 mudslide near Oso, the library became a critical information access point and one of the few places with an internet connection.
During the pandemic, the library boosted the signal to reach outside its walls, in a social distancing measure. The library has pretty consistent internet, but the new project brings a massive boost, library officials said. Darrington’s library has the third-highest circulation in the network.
“We know the need is here,” Langer Thompson said.
A Ziply Fiber truck is parked outside Darrington Fire District Station 38 during a press conference and groundbreaking for the SR 530 Broadband Project on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, outside Darrington, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ziply officials said the low end of its internet offerings will be 100 megabytes per second, up to 50 gigabytes per second. The project is expected to be finished in a year.
“The most important thing is that we’re building infrastructure that will last for many years to come,” said Mike Doherty, the company’s chief marketing officer.
The project uses both underground fiber-optic cables and cables strung on poles.
Residents can search for their address in their website, Doherty said. And if there’s not current service at the address, potential customers can register their interest for getting it when its available at ziplyfiber.com/new-fiber-locations.
Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jordyhansen.
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