26 • Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Fire, continued from page 25 Clallam County Fire District 3 hired Fred Barrett as fire chief and began responding to medical calls. The district began a paramedic program in 1982 but between 19821984 there were only two paramedics with the district and they worked 24/7/365. Vogel was one of them and well-experienced in trauma care. Tom Lowe, who was Sequim’s first paid fire chief, was hired by the district in 1984 and replaced Barrett. In 1987, the 26-member Sequim Volunteer Fire Department, then having nine emergency medical technicians and one part-time female paramedic, merged with Clallam County Fire District 3. Lowe helped facilitate uniting the two into one cohesive agency. In 1968, 9-1-1 became the national emergency number for the United States but it did not become widely known until the 1970s, and many municipalities did not have 9-1-1 service until well into the 1980s. 9-1-1 physical location addressing began in Clallam County in 1993 and finished in 1996. Today, Clallam County Fire District 3 has seven stations: Dungeness, R Corner, Carlsborg, Sequim, Diamond Point, Lost Mountain and Blyn, all supported by 88 volunteer firefighters and EMTs. Paid staff
Sequim Centennial 1913-2013 are on duty 24/7 at the Blyn, Carlsborg and Sequim stations. The district is approximately 140 square miles in size and begins at Gardiner in Jefferson County on the east and extends to just east of Deer Park Road. The northern boundary is the Strait of Juan de Fuca,
while the Olympic National Forest forms the southern boundary. Fire District 3 operates three shifts and each shift works a 24-hour shift rotation consisting of one captain, six firefighter/ paramedics and three firefighter/EMTs, plus volunteers who respond from home.
Sequim Gazette
Each of the seven fire stations in District 3 has an ambulance and a fire engine, with Sequim’s Station 34 having two ambulances, a rescue truck, fire engine, ladder truck and water tender. The district also employs chiefs, administrative and maintenance staff.
Members of the Sequim Volunteer Fire Department stand by a modern fire engine in 1986. Back row from left are Roger Moeder, Dennis Taylor, Ed Anderson and Mike Whitney; and front row from left are Les Curtis, Jim Steeby, Dennis Fernandez, Pam Cadden and Susie Spalinger. Below: Sequim’s Station 34 in 2012 with the full array of trucks available for modern firefighting and emergency medical care. Photo by Patricia Coate.