La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

Gary Ladd was bare headed on Thursday, though figuratively he was wearing two hats that morning.

A Skagit County Fire District 13 officer, he also serves as an officer of Skagit Bay Search & Rescue – and he spoke for the latter during the fire district’s monthly commissioners meeting at the Snee Oosh Road station.

The SBSR leadership proposed to Commissioners Bruce Shellhamer, John Doyle and J.J. Wilbur that the fire district partner with the search and rescue group on emergency calls.

SBSR is currently aligned with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office for search missions, said Ladd.

“We want to stay with them for training and callouts for searches,” Ladd said of the sheriff’s office, “but we want to be available to fire departments, too.

“We’re being called out by the sheriff’s office seven or eight times a year, mostly for searches but not rescues,” he added. “We can provide immediate rescue services, but we’re not getting called (for those).”

Insurance coverage is a key consideration for any agreement. SBSR maintains and moors a vessel at La Conner Marina. The boat’s insurance premium is paid by The Port of Skagit County.

Supported by donors, SBSR is a non-profit organization covered by insurance through the sheriff’s office when its boat leaves the marina.

“But,” Ladd said, “we can’t take the boat out without ­permission. The key here is we need to have insurance.”

Established in 2002, SBSR volunteers provide marine-related support to the sheriff’s office. Members are trained in boat operations, navigation, search and rescue procedures and medical support and transportation.

Ladd said the sheriff’s office is onboard with SBSR being available to fire departments. It is a matter of lining up the insurance coverage.

“We’d like the commission to continue moving forward to make this partnership work,” he said.

Shellhamer, who chairs the panel, and Chief Wood Weiss each endorsed the plan.

Shellhamer called bringing SBSR under the fire district umbrella “a fabulous idea.”

“I see a lot of positives,” said Weiss.

Weiss struck another positive note during the 90-minute hybrid session when he reported that a grant secured by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community will purchase four new gas monitors valued at around $3,600 each. The monitors can be employed for a wide array of emergency calls, said Weiss, including train derailments, gas line breaks and chemical spills.

Assistant Fire Chief Jamie Jurdi reported he and other district firefighters were mobilized in July to help combat a large wildland blaze in Eastern Washington near the Oregon border.

“We took a truck there,” he said, “and everything worked perfectly.”

Well, almost perfectly.

“We did lose a hub cap,” Weiss said.