Welcome to the Ferry / Okanogan Fire Protection District #14 site.
We'll start out with an introduction of who we are FY/OK FPD #14 is also known as the Curlew Fire Department and sometimes as Curlew Fire & EMS. Our primary fire station is located in the town of Curlew, in northeastern Washington State, U.S.A. We are a volunteer department with both fire and emergency medical service (EMS) divisions. Each division operates within a chain of command under a respective chief.
EMS Division has approximately 16 EMT (emergency medical technicians) three ambulance drivers, an assistant EMS Chief and the EMS Chief Bonnie Goss. Apparatus include 2 verified ambulance units – Med 1 and Med 2Fire Division has approximately 30 fire staff (some are cross trained as EMTs). Our ranks include firefighters (both level 1 & 2), engine boss, resource boss, incident commanders (type 3, 4 & 5), safety officers, station captains, station lieutenants, assistant fire chief and Fire Chief J. Foster Fanning (Chief Foster).
FY/OK FPD #14 is chartered under RCW 52 as a fire protection district in Washington State with an elected board of three fire commissioners who over-see the administrative management of the department. The fire commissioners appoint and delegate authority to both Fire & EMS chiefs.
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Ferry /Okanogan Fire Protection District #14Location: NW Ferry County and NE Okanogan County of Washington State.
Size: 79,953 acres (124 square miles; 77,733 acres FY CO, 2,220 acres OK CO).
Serving: approximately 1,500 citizens with an estimated 700 structures.
Tax Revenue: 2010 (estimated) - $75,000
Assessed value real property: $1,400,000
Topography: Mountainous with two primary narrow valleys and many steep drainages.
Demographics: Unchecked development of interface neighborhoods in narrow, mountainous valleys.
Approximately 80% of land in the 'north-half’ of Ferry County is under governmental management of Forest
Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources or the Bureau of Land Management.
Strategic Layout: FPD #14 has one primary station (town of Curlew) and three ‘satellite’ stations in the communities of Danville, Malo and Toroda.
FPD #14 Operations: FPD #14 is divided into two operation divisions; Fire and Medical.
FPD #14 Apparatus: Two verified ambulances, seven initial attack fire engines, one extrication vehicle and one command car.
FPD #14 Staffing: Twenty-three volunteer EMS providers and nineteen volunteer Firefighters of which six members are cross-trained in both response disciplines. Governed by a three-member Board of Commissioners. There is also an auxiliary support unit made up of a dozen private citizens.
Responses: Average of thirty fire responses (wildland and structural) and 100+ emergency medical responses annually. (Two recent state mobilizations – Mount Leona 2001 and Curlew Complex 2002).
Mutual-aid: Formal Mutual-aid agreements exist between FPD #14 and WA DNR and FPD #13. Currently Mutual-aid agreements are in draft stages with local USFS Job Corps compound, Grand Forks British Columbia, Canada and FPD #3.
Inter-agency suppression: FPD #14 is a founding member of NE-WA-CO (Northeast Washington Coalition of fire suppression agencies). Two of the seven initial attack engines are non-tax based allowing FPD #14 a history of responding to mobilization calls outside jurisdictional boundaries; some examples of which are 1991 Firestorm, 1994 Tyee & Rat Creek Complex fires, 1994 Copper Butte, 1994 Palmer Complex fires, 1994 Spokane Riverside fire, 1996 Bowie Road, 1999 Lemansky Pines fire, 2000 Cayuse Cooker and Rocky Hull fires. Additionally numerous minor responses have occurred supporting the WA DNR during lightning bust ignitions.
Inter-agency participation: FPD #14 is active on a regional basis with members serving on various emergency management boards, i.e. Chair of FY CO E-911 Governing Board, Chair and Secretary of FY CO Trauma Care Council, Alternate representative to East Region Trauma Care Council, Chair and Secretary of FY CO Fire Prevention Cooperative, Coordinator of NE-WA-CO, Regional EMS trainer, representative on Five Star Enterprise Community, representative to regional disaster preparedness committee.
Jurisdiction boundaries: Northern boundary is approximately 9 miles of east/west international border with the closest Canada fire station 14 miles from Curlew. Eastern boundary is USFS lands of the Kettle Range, we respond to highway accidents to summit of Boulder/Deer Creek Pass within USFS boundary with the nearest FPD #3 station 27 miles from Curlew. Western boundary is along Toroda Creek with the closest Okanogan County fire station 29 miles from Curlew. Southern boundary is near the junction of Hwy 21 and the W Curlew Lake road with the nearest FPD #14 station 22 miles from Curlew.
Wildland fuel composition: A fire-adapted ecosystem of dry site ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and associated vegetation. Historically, the fire regime was frequent, low-severity wildfires. Successful fire suppression, coupled with the various land management practices have led to overstocking of small trees (doghair thickets) and an excess of surface debris and brush. This overstocking of vegetation and buildup of surface fuels has led to conditions with high potential to result in frequent moderate to high-severity wildfires. These fires come with an elevated potential for negative effects to our communities.
Risk Assessment: Our area is fire prone with a high frequency of lighting ignitions in June, July and August. Additionally there are frequent human fire starts throughout the region. The WA DNR Urban Interface Risk Assessment program lists our 'neighborhoods' fire risk as high.
