This letter is to encourage support of the bond measure in Buckley for the construction of the new Buckley fire station. The present station was built in 1951 and has served the community well for many years. It now serves as a fire station, a police station and a jail. The fire department outgrew this facility several years ago but has made due.

When the station was new it served about 20 firefighters who ran around 50 calls per year. At present the department has 48 firefighters and EMTs who ran over 1,150 calls last year. I’m not sure what training was required in the 1950s and ‘60s, but today for a volunteer to serve on the Buckley Fire Department, they will spend 241 hours in instructed training, not including study or practice time to achieve their “Firefighter 1” certification, which includes a written test and an all-day practical test. They then will spend 120 hours in instructed time including testing to receive their EMT certification. It is a major investment of time; I know this as a former volunteer of 10 years. Volunteers will also commit to weekly drills and sleeper duty. The city of Buckley is well served by their fire department whose volunteers are also members of the community.

The economy is in rough shape right now and some might be thinking that this is a bad time to be asking for money to build a new fire station. Well, I personally work hard for my money and I don’t give it away for free. I expect a return on my investment. Financially, this new station will give the citizens of Buckley an excellent return. This facility will be built when interest rates could not be any lower. Would you rather buy a car at 4 percent interest or 10 percent interest? Good contractors are searching for work right now and are bidding jobs lower just to get work and keep businesses running. I know this to be true, it is what I am doing.

The Buckley Fire Department has worked exceedingly hard in the last several years to obtain superior equipment in order to serve the community faster and more efficiently. They have developed and maintained excellent training programs to give the community the highest level of service available (volunteer or paid) it is time now to give the city of Buckley and its fire department a fire station that meets our needs and our standards for the next 50 years.

If you don’t know any Buckley firefighters, please go the station and meet some. Go check out the present facility and see what you think. You can also go online to www.facebook.com and look-up “Citizens for a Safer Buckley” or also on facebook “City of Buckley Fire Department” for more information about the new station.

Please vote yes for the new fire station.

David Tracy

Buckley