DuPont’s fire chief resigned in July because the city insisted on holding a fundraising party for the parks department inside the city’s sole fire station, a decision he believes impacts the department’s ability to respond to emergencies.
Former Fire Chief Michael Keohi said holding the auction in the bay where trucks usually are parked would hinder firefighters’ access to much of their equipment, especially in dire circumstances.
“When you do anything that has to interfere with the daily operation — our mission is 24-hour readiness — that’s one of the lines you don’t cross,” Keohi told The News Tribune. “We would have to move all our equipment out of there and not have access to that for our operational needs for 12, 13 hours.”
City administrator Andy Takata said the city of 10,000 has had the fundraiser at the firehouse in previous years and that he does not believe the event hinders the fire department.
“There is plenty of room, so what harm does it cause?” Takata said of using the firehouse, whose vehicle bay is about 76 feet long by 58 feet wide.
In emails obtained by The News Tribune, Keohi in July spelled out his concerns to Mayor Mike Courts, Takata and City Council members.
Takata responded to Keohi that the mayor and some council members wanted to move ahead because a precedent of holding the event at the firehouse had been set.
“Once that precedence was started and no one at that time (to my knowledge) brought your issues in your previous email, it is difficult to create a policy not allowing it,” Takata said in an email to Keohi.
Keohi subsequently resigned a year into the job. His last day was July 30, according to emails obtained by The News Tribune.
The auction
The annual auction held in October began five years ago, said Amy Walker, DuPont’s recreation & events coordinator.
One year, the auction was held at The Home Course, a city-owned golf course, but Walker said that venue was too small, so it has been held at the fire station since.
Up to 200 guests have attended for dinner, beer and wine, and to bid on donated gift cards and baskets.
Ticket prices this year start at $35 and include dinner, raffle tickets and entertainment, according to a flyer advertising the event.
Last year, the event raked in $30,000, for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, which has a budget of $1,020,378 in 2019, Takata said.
Walker told The News Tribune she was open to relocating the event when Keohi approached her about his concerns, but she declined to discuss why the venue has not changed.
Courts told The News Tribune that it doesn’t make sense to rent out a space for the auction when they have access to the fire bay, which is the largest public facility in the city. The municipal fire department is funded by the city and should be cooperative with the city, the mayor said.
Potential response delay
Keohi came out of retirement to work as DuPont’s fire chief and started a few months before last year’s auction.
The former West Pierce Fire Department assistant chief worked in the fire service for more than 45 years and spent time as a fire academy instructor.
Keohi said he decided to observe the 2018 fundraising event before making any decisions.
He said he saw firefighters remove essential equipment, including the engines, from the station, help with set up for the auction and work around all the people in the station to grab additional tools as needed.
In the previous years while the auction was going on, firefighters would have to run out to an adjacent, fenced parking lot in the dark, don their gear, jump on the engine and then wait for the gate to open before reaching the road, Keohi said.
“That would delay them by more than a minute,” Keohi said.
The News Tribune contacted James McMullen, the former chief state fire marshal of California, for his opinion. McMullen is not familiar with DuPont or its department but said best practice is not to use a firehouse as a party venue.
“That’s an unacceptable risk,” he said. “You are supposed to provide 24/7 emergency response as soon as possible.
“The fact is, fire progress very rapidly. Minutes — seconds — count. Any impediment of some gate opening, that’s crazy.”
Courts does not believe there is much of a difference between firefighters having to park the engines outside of the station rather than in it.
“The fire trucks are moved outside, they get inside the trucks just as they did inside inside the fire bay,” the mayor said.
After responding to larger emergencies like brush fires or building fires, crews clean hoses, wash out breathing equipment, inspect fire engines and sanitize aid vehicles, Keohi added.
“We could be crippled by not getting access to our workstation,” he said.
Three firefighters work 48-hour shifts in DuPont, and Keohi said he was troubled that the long shifts would be interrupted by the event, including set up and tear down after the auction.
The fire department needs to be prepared for an emergency because any backup from West Pierce Fire & Rescue or crews from Joint Base Lewis-McChord could take up to 20 minutes, Keohi said.
DuPont interim Fire Chief Pat McElligott said his crew responds to a five calls per day. McElligott said his workaround this year is moving the two engines, a brush truck, an air supply trailer, ATV and aid car to a driveway in front of the fire station rather than the adjacent parking lot. Firefighter also would do any necessary cleaning of equipment outdoors.
“We don’t lose any functionality,” McElligott said. “My job is to make sure that my firefighters are well-equipped, have what they need to do the job safely, and they come back.”
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