Welcome to Jefferson County
Fire District 5

2000 Old Gardiner Road, Gardiner, WA. 98382-8778
360-797-7711

Photo Remembrance for Chief Wilson

To help honor Fire Chief Wilson Dr. Elizabeth Van Dyke has submitted many wonderful pictures of his memorial service. I have left the pictures as large as possible for best viewing.

Please follow this link to view the photographs Dr. Van Dyke sent for publication.

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Fire Chief Wilson’s Memorial Service

Dear Neighbors,
 
Many of you know that Fire Chief Bob Wilson of Fire Districts #5 and #2, that’s Gardiner/Discovery Bay and Quilcene, passed away last Friday after a courageous battle with cancer.  He was 58 years old.  He was our Fire Chief since 2007 and Quilcene’s since 1992.  
 
He leaves his beloved wife Veda and three children, Joseph, age 29, Jacob, age 23 and Dana, age 18, plus many fire, law enforcement and community members he helped along the way.
 
A memorial service with a formal firefighter ceremony will be held this Friday, April 24th, at 5PM at the Quilcene Schools Gymnasium.  Anyone who wants to attend would be welcome to come.  Port Ludlow Fire Chief Ed Wilkerson is organizing the ceremony.  A graveside service will be scheduled for a later date.
 
If you can donate food to be served after the memorial service, please bring it in a non-returnable container to the cafeteria at the Quilcene High School prior to the service. They expect approximately 1,000 people and the ability to feed that many people is a bit overwhelming during this difficult time.
 
If you want to send a card, here is the address for Bob Wilson’s family:
Veda Wilson & Family
P.O. Box 123
Quilcene, WA 98376

The Jefferson County Commissioners read a proclamation honoring Chief Wilson for his dedication and years of service.  Commissioner John Austin moved to direct the County Administrator to research an appropriate way to honor Fire Chief Wilson, possibly through naming a public structure. It was carried by a unanimous vote.  

- Elizabeth

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Fire Chief’s Report
Activities for the month of January 2009

Fire unit responses- 4
EMS calls- 6
 
During the month of January we responded to a total of ten alarms.  Out of the ten alarms, six were mutual aid calls to District # 2. Within the ten calls we had four motor vehicle collisions two of which were mutual aid calls to District # 2.
 
It appears that both our agencies have been very busy with calls this last month.  The crews have done a great job responding and providing assistance to those in need.
 
We received notification from FEMA that we have been awarded the 2008 grant request for a Breathing Air Compressor and a 70 KW generator.  Hopefully, we will go out to bid on the two projects sometime in March.  The total grant award came in at approximately $80,000.00 including the districts share.
 
The Discovery Bay Salmon Derby is on February 14th, 15th and 16th.   The Award Ceremony is on the 16th at 2pm down at the Gardiner boat ramp.
 
Commissioner Hanel went to the Jamestown Tribe and put in a request for funding for two of the Stryker power cots. They came back with a $5000.00 donation toward the project.  The gurney has arrived and we will get it installed into the aid car this month.
 
The EMT class is currently being held at Station 11.  Jared Marlow is taking the class for JCFD # 5. 
 
North Kitsap Fire Rescue should be here in February to service the two engines and the brush truck.
 
We received the written structural engineer proposal for our review at the February meeting.
 
Mike Smith has withdrawn his membership to the fire district.  He stated his home situation has changed to the point that he does not have the time to respond or attend training sessions.  He is now looking for employment and taking care of his father at home.  Mike has turned in his equipment.
 
I am very concerned about our response capabilities for the citizens we serve.  Over the last year the current staff and I shook the Gardiner / Discovery Bay tree so to speak looking for help and the overwhelming majority of the citizens we found with any interest at all have not worked out for one reason or another.   As we all know the demographics in Gardiner do not provide a base in which to draw young responders to assist with our incidents.  I want to encourage the Board to look at what our options might be!  The overall picture includes a variety of issues that we have discussed before being volunteers, structural issues at Station # 52, a building bond for repairs, along with looking at the possibility of a fire levy increase to maintain our day to day operations.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Bob Wilson
Fire Chief 

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Joint Awards Banquet

Below are pictures from this years Joint Awards Banquet, see story below. (Click on picture to see full sized image.)

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Never use email in an emergency!
Call 911 for all emergencies!

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