Gary Iversen photo of arson investigators from ATF, Seattle Fire Department, Hoquiam, Grays Harbor Sheriff’s and Ocean Shores personnel, working at the burned-out house on Ensign Avenue this afternoon:

Early yesterday afternoon, Ocean Shores police arrested a 50-year-old local resident, who is being held in county jail on charges of arson. He is charged with setting this Friday morning fire (Trevor Westlie photo) on Ensign Avenue,  the same street where he lives:

Trevor Westlie photo, above

At 7:25 this morning, Ocean Shores resident Todd Parrish was getting his kids ready for school. “I heard an explosion that shook the house,” he said.
Thinking a car from Point Brown Avenue had hit his house, he looked out the window and saw a ball of fire erupting out of the house next door.
Ocean Shores firefighters responded to his 911 call and, according to Lt. Brian Ritter, confronted “a fully involved fire at 226 Ensign Ave. NW.” He said the adjacent house, Parrish’s, was endanger of catching fire, with flames shooting toward it.
Ritter said “the fire was under control within 25 minutes. No injuries.”

Michelle Plumb photo, below:

Ritter said the cause of the fire is under investigation. “It’s a total loss,” he said of the now-crumbled single-family home.

Joe Hoffman, Lieutenant firefighter/paramedic of the Ocean Shores Fire Department, and his wife, paramedic Brianne Hoffman, are among a group of six paramedics heading for Haiti to provide relief efforts. They are seeking donations to help them:

The website is paypal (www.paypal.com) and donations can be sent by logining into paypal and sending money to an account email.  Our account email is brianne_daisy@yahoo.com. Alternatively, donations can be mailed to the Ocean Shores Fire Department at PO BOX 100 Ocean Shores, WA 98569 Care of Joe Hoffman Haiti Relief or dropped off at the Ocean Shores Fire Department.

We are a group of 6 paramedics from the Kitsap/Pierce/Grays Harbor Counties who are already scheduled to deploy to this disaster on February 16^th. Our first group was on the ground within a week of the disaster, and worked closely with physicians from NOAH (National Organization for the Advancement of Haiti). This physician group has invited our paramedic/RN teams to continue to work with them to deliver health care to those whose lives have been devastated by this earthquake.

Monday afternoon, the City of Ocean Shores and Ocean Shores Professional Firefighters Local 2109 announced finalization of an agreement of $80,000 in concessions.
“The City of Ocean Shores greatly thanks our Local 2109 Fire Fighters for giving up over $80,000 in concessions to help balance the City’s 2010 budget,” said Mayor Dean Bunkers, in a release. “Concessions such as these allow the City to maintain adequate public safety for our residents but also helps keep the doors open at the Library and Interpretive Center.”
Last year, the 11 Ocean Shores  firefighters gave $28,000 in concessions to the city.
The previous $28,000 and this $80,000 in concessions comes to nearly $10,000 per union member.
“During this hard financial time it is imperative that we all work together to stay afloat as a city,” said Joel White, Local 2109 president.

Some of you demanded that the mayor terminate the fire chief and combine fire and police departments. That, as of yesterday, is in process. There’s no need to take cheap shots at Jim Hodges, now. (Please remember to follow this Web site’s “commenting policy,” which reads, in part: “This is not a place to be conversational or a place where personal attacks are allowed. We hold the right to remove any comments that take on a personal nature or that we deem to be bigoted, hateful, or racially offensive. “)

Combining fire/paramedics and police probably should have happened three years ago, last year at the latest. Easy to say, in retrospect, but it should have been obvious that a city this size could not (especially in tough times) support two units, both growing, both with huge overhead/administrative costs.

Hodges, in the past year, has faced extraordinary criticism. Some of it was certainly justified, based on his expansion of the department — just as the economy was going the other way. But keep in mind that City Council approved the new

Just received this, from Mayor Dean Bunkers:

Press Release November 11, 2009
Layoff:
On Tuesday, November 10, the Fire Chief of Ocean Shores was placed on administrative leave, with pay, pending further action by the Mayor.  The Mayor has advised Chief Jim Hodges of his intention to recommend to the city council that the position of Fire Chief be eliminated as of December 31, 2009. The Mayor will be asking the city council to reorganize the Fire Chief and Chief of Police duties into a single FTE, i.e. Director/Chief of Public Safety.  In anticipation of that action Chief Hodges was placed on administrative leave with pay.
City procedures require that certain steps be taken before any final decision on the layoff can be issued and those steps are proceeding.  The layoff of the Chief will be a painful but necessary decision brought on by the worsening fiscal crisis facing the city.
The Mayor has expressed his deep appreciation for the dedication of Chief Jim Hodges and thanked him for his years of service to the citizens of Ocean Shores.

The Police Chief is now acting as the interim Fire Chief.

Here is the Powerpoint presentation given by Brian Ritter, representing his firefighter union, at last week’s Chamber of Commerce breakfast: 

fire-union-ppt

Photo by Mike McGregor:

From the Ocean Shores Fire Dept.:

Structure Fire Response  August 25, 2009: At 2:39 a.m. Ocean Shores Fire Department responded to a fully involved 2 story structure fire at 799 Mariner Ct S.E. All occupants were confirmed to be out of the structure, per Ocean Shores Police Department. Fire District’s#7 and #16 also responded to the incident with two engines and a total of 8 personnel. First on scene Ocean Shores Engine Company 7402 began to protect two homes to the north of the fire that were also in danger of catching fire, while attempting to extinguish the fire.