Orcas Fire and Rescue responded to a record number of calls over Labor Day weekend.
“We always anticipate that Labor Day weekend has the potential for being a busier time because of all the additional tourists and all the activities,” said Division Chief Patrick Shepler, who was the only duty officer on call from Friday through Tuesday morning. “But we were quite surprised that in the four days we had 30 calls.”
Responders traveled all over the island for what were primarily medical emergencies. Incidents included an allergic reaction, a laceration, a second degree burn, two single vehicle car crashes, a fall, a dislocated arm of a six-month-old, someone in a ditch who turned out to be resting, two possible strokes, a ruptured disc, a neurological emergency, and a life-threatening internal hemorrhage.
“Out of all those 30 calls, we handled all of them on island except for four,” Shepler said. “It’s the busiest Labor Day weekend we have ever had on Orcas.”
Two fires on Sept. 2
On Friday, Sept. 2, firefighters fought a structure fire in Sea Acres. The single family residence sustained damage in the kitchen area from a probable electrical fire.
Responders received a call that same night about a boat blaze in Deer Harbor. The engine room of a 35-foot Bayliner caught fire while docked at the Deer Harbor Marina. Responders were unable to save the vessel “Today,” which sunk and was later towed to Cayou Cay Marina by Vessel Assist. It was hauled out by Michael Durland of Deer Harbor Boatworks.
Owner Mark Redis says the fire likely originated with an electrical short in the engine room.
The Coast Guard was notified and arrived minutes after the first Orcas firefighters. The Redis family had left the boat half an hour before the flames were spotted; they received a call about the emergency while eating dinner. A quick-thinking bystander had towed the burning vessel away from the dock and into the narrow channel, where it was then anchored.
When Redis and his wife and their 15-year-old daughter returned, they discovered that their beloved 10-year-old African Gray Parrot named Esa was trapped on board. The boat was heavily involved at that point, and firefighters deemed a rescue attempt to be futile.
“No one was hurt and there was no environmental or property damage, but losing my wife’s bird was the worst part of the whole thing,” Redis said.
Shepler said a handful of spectators at the marina were “concerned why firefighters were not putting continuous streams of water on the burning boat.”
“There are always three over-arching goals on every incident, and in this order of importance: life safety, incident mitigation and property conservation,” Shepler said. “This vessel had about 50 gallons of gasoline aboard. We were concerned with protecting the marina, other boats and with protecting the environment. We could have mixed too much water with gasoline and had a running fuel fire that would endanger the marina and the environment.”
The Islands Oil Spill Association set up a 600-foot oil protection boom to stop chemicals or debris from drifting into a nearby estuary. After a preliminary investigation by the Coast Guard, it appears that no petroleum products were released into the water. Redis says it was a stroke of luck that he didn’t fuel up before leaving his slip in La Conner.
“I have never gone away for the weekend without filling up my boat with gas before leaving the dock,” he said. “But that Friday I was behind schedule, and I knew I had enough gas to get there. So when the boat caught on fire there was 50 gallons of fuel rather than 175.”
