In today's edition of This Week in Kirkland, we'd like to highlight three actions that the City Council took during their April 16 Regular Business Meeting:

1. City Council authorized the City Manager to execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement for the acquisition of the property located 13118 121st Way NE., Kirkland, WA for future relocation of Fire Station 27. Studies conducted since the annexation of Kingsgate, North Juanita Hill, and Finn Hill have determined that this property is a necessary location for a new fire station to replace the aging existing Station 27 (currently at 11210 NE 132nd St.). See a recent press release for more information. 

2. The City Council adopted the recommended Neighborhood Safety Projects for 2019. Top Priority projects include the following:

1. Raised sidewalk on corner of N.E. 134th Street at 87th Avenue N.E.
2. Rapid flashing beacon on N.E. 132nd Street at 129th Place N.E.
3. Traffic median island on Slater Avenue N.E. at N.E. 119th Street
4. Intersection improvement on N.E. 87th Street at 114th Avenue N.E.
5. Walkway on N.E. 120th Street between 93rd Place N.E. and 96th Avenue N.E.
6. Crosswalk on Lakeview Drive north of 64th Street
More information on the 2019 Neighborhood Safety Projects can be found in the April 16 City Council packet. More information on the Neighborhood Safety Program can be found on the City website. 

3. The City Council approved a pilot program for car-free Sundays on Park Lane throughout the summer of 2019. Starting on May 26 through September 22, Park Lane will be closed on Sundays to vehicles. The street was built to be a pedestrian-friendly, festival space, with built-in bollards to regularly close the street for pedestrian/bicycle use only. Background information is available in the April 16 City Council packet. 

For our firefighters, the desire and willingness to serve extends well beyond jurisdictional boundaries. While the safety of the Kirkland community is always our top priority, we welcome opportunities to assist other communities in situations where local resources simply aren’t enough.

This desire to serve on a broader level spurred the recent formation of our Wildland Firefighting Team, which is poised for rapid deployment in times of need.

The team was organized by 12-year Kirkland Fire Department firefighter Jon Hernandez, who has over two decades of experience in wildland firefighting. In 2016 he and others began laying the groundwork for the new team, which was implemented in 2018 with a total of 22 members.

The team experienced swift growth and is currently 28 members strong.

Wildland team members are certified with a “red card,” the state’s official Incident Qualification Card required for wildland incident response. The initial training consists of 40 hours of classroom work plus a “field day” to test the firefighter’s physical abilities. Field day exercises include a fire-shelter setup drill and a grueling test of fitness known as the “arduous pack test,” in which firefighters must travel three miles in under 45 minutes carrying a 45-pound pack. Red card certifications require an annual refresher training regimen, which includes both the pack test and the fire-shelter setup drill.

Kirkland firefighters complete the arduous pack drill on the Cross Kirkland Corridor.

The team was vastly effective in its inaugural year, serving on a total of eight deployments to different largescale incidents in Oregon, California and eastern Washington. Deployments generally last for two weeks and require teamwork, coordination and flexibility. The team is nimble, able to easily partner with firefighters from other agencies and work together seamlessly.    

Deployments by Kirkland’s Wildland Firefighting Team are cost-neutral to the City – meaning they do not cost the City money. Deployments are paid for with state mobilization funding, put in place by the legislature to assure ease of interagency cooperation in times of emergency.

The wildland team was inspired by our firefighters, who took the initiative to build the team from the ground up. The City is proud and honored that its firefighters are ready to respond and help our state and other states should an emergent need arise. Thank you Kirkland firefighters!