Fire service OKs new contract

By Jack Kintner

When the directors of the North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) met in Point Roberts last Thursday, they left the development phase and turned fully to the job of running the new fire and emergency medical servicEe. “We have our implementation in place,” said NWFRS chief Mike Campbell.

Directors approved a new three-year union contract with members of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) local 3867. The contract, which covers all 16 NWFRS career firefighters, contains a “training incentive plan” in which annual cost of living adjustments (COLA) are tied to completion of on-going training each year. The more training a firefighter receives, the higher the COLA, up to five percent per year.

“This way we can build increased levels of service to the public into our contract with paid firefighters,” said Campbell. Training will involve certification in areas such as land-based marine firefighting, wildland firefighting and completion of level 1 firefighting certification requirements.
Directors also standardized their monthly meeting calendar and that of two of the three districts. The board of directors will meet on the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at a location that will rotate between divisions.

District five will meet on the second Thursday at 2 p.m. and district 13 will meet on the second Thursday at 7 p.m. District three will determine its meeting schedule at its meeting on Tuesday of this week. The next meeting of the NWFRS board will be February 7 at a fire station TBA in the central division..

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