Dennis Perkins, Port Orchard Volunteer since 1966, spoke on behalf of the volunteers and presented their views of the contract. Extensive training classes paid by district Yearly retirement remittances paid Employee assistance program funded by the district Mr. Perkins stated the volunteers feel the most important part of the contract is the Response Manning Section, specifically responses to emergencies. This part of the contract should be a non-negotiable issue. The contract does not address changes to Fire Station No. 31, such as adding a Medic or Aid Unit and if so, Station No. 31 should be staffed with additional paid manpower. The next issue the volunteers were concerned about was the Washington State Service Fire Rating as this greatly effects businesses that want to move to this area.
Businesses look at who can offer the best fire ratings, either the district or city.
This section provides the City Personnel with comparable rank, benefits, compensation and responsibilities with Fire District No. 7. The proposed contract states the district will maintain an average emergency response time to all incidents within five minutes. The Port Orchard volunteers would like a provision in the contract stating, at all fire calls an engine company will be on the scene and water on the fire within a maximum of 8 minutes. The Volunteers are concerned this is not enough equipment for operations of a city department. The Port Orchard Volunteers also questioned what will happen to the surplus equipment.