Key Peninsula Firefighters Struggle With Response Times

Hope faded for Luciann Nadeau in the early morning hours of April 22 when an electrical fire broke through the roof of the Glencove Hotel, a landmark on the Key Peninsula that has changed little since it opened in 1897.

The historic site, once a popular steamboat destination for the South Sound's well-to-do, had been in her care for more than 30 years.

"I was watching what my husband and I decided to do with our lives go up in smoke," recalled Nadeau, 73.

As it turns out, all was not lost for the widow hotelier on that morning last month. Firefighters were able to save the hotel, although damage was estimated at $500,000. Repairs are under way.

But Tom Lique, chief at the Key Peninsula Fire Department, said this and two other recent fires underscore a growing problem for his 65-mile district that serves 17,000 people: lagging response times.

The first five Key Peninsula firefighters arrived within 12 minutes of the 911 call. But without the assistance from the neighboring Gig Harbor fire department, which arrived in force 12 minutes later, Lique doubts there would have been enough personnel to put it out.

"We got fortunate and we made a good stop and I'm so happy for the property owner down there that they didn't lose more of their property," Lique said. "But I'm also able to stand back and say it wasn't the ideal situation for us. Had we had one or two things go south, we could have been in big trouble."

The district wasn't as fortunate with the two other recent fires, involving a barn and a home. It took 16 and 33 minutes, respectively, for enough firefighters to arrive to extinguish those blazes. Both structures were destroyed.

The house fire on Thursday killed two pets and sent a firefighter to the hospital for dehydration, the district said.

The district says its response time for fire calls is well below the national standard. It is considering asking voters later this year for a tax measure so it can hire eight additional firefighters.

The proposed maintenance and operation levy would assess property owners about 41 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or an estimated $92.40 a year for the owner of a $225,000 home.

Property owners in the district now pay $1.68 per $1,000 for two levies that fund firefighting and basic and advanced medical emergency response. That's $378 a year for the same homeowner.

The district has 24 career firefighters, including Lique and an assistant chief, on its payroll, as well as 17 volunteers.

Lique said he understands a tax proposal is a tough sell in a stalled economy. But he said he can't put lives and property at risk waiting for help from neighboring fire districts.

Like other rural fire districts, Key Peninsula could rely on the charity of volunteers to fill its ranks when it started in the 1950s.

Today, requirements are far more stringent. The low pay isn't worth the time away from family or a more lucrative job except for those seeking a foot in the door toward becoming a career firefighter.

The district used to require volunteers to live within a short drive of its boundaries. But it had to open the process to candidates in Tacoma when its volunteer recruitments attracted one or two candidates. Even the more lenient policy netted just eight applicants during its most recent recruitment, Lique said.

Today, less than half of the 40 available slots for volunteer firefighters are filled, Lique said.

Not everyone will be moved to pay more taxes because of the recent fires.

"They use that as a crutch to get people to vote," said Dale Boquist, a 67-year-old retired construction worker says he's on a fixed income.

Boquist was the fourth generation of his family to log the peninsula. He lives next to the Glencove Hotel. He fondly recalls sliding down the staircase banister as a youth.

Back at the Glencove, Nadeau surveys the damage as workers busily clean up.

It was 1967 when she and her late husband, Lawrence, boated into the snug inlet and spied the bulky residence atop a hill. For decades, the resort hotel built and managed by Nicholas and Agnes Peterson was a popular getaway for Tacoma's well-to-do. They arrived by steamboat in the early years because no roads led to the remote, forested location.

Naudeau was instantly taken by the charm and history. "I need to have that," she told her husband.

It took five years, but the couple from Tacoma eventually purchased the house and later opened its doors to guests as a bed and breakfast in the early 1980s. The couple successfully listed the hotel on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Each year, it attracts hundreds of guests, and a dozen couples wed under the gazebo or on the beautifully manicured lawn.

The property is fully insured, and Nadeau plans to reopen in six months to a year. The hotel, she pledged, will be better than ever.

She says firefighters did the best job they could given the circumstances.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more," she said. "They were awesome."

McClatchy-Tribune News Service