Only technical issues remain to complete the transfer of Gardiner residents into the boundaries of Clallam County Fire District 3, said Fire Chief Steve Vogel.

"Both dispatch agencies have procedures in place for what roads are in what district and which calls get dispatched where. So the dual dispatch is coming to an end but we both want to make sure no one's missed," he said.

"There's just a technical Qwest issue for getting data up on dispatchers' screens. We pretty much know our boundaries," Vogel said.

A petition to transfer Gardiner area fire protection from Jefferson County Fire District 5 and Clallam County District 3 was approved earlier this month by commissioners of both districts.

The transfer took effect Wednesday, Sept. 9.

A group of Gardiner residents held two meetings in August on their proposal to switch from Jefferson County Fire District 5 to Clallam County Fire District 3.

Proponents said the switch would provide Gardiner residents with faster fire protection and emergency medical response thanks to the full-time Blyn station that opened in September 2008.

Jefferson County Fire District 5 stretches from Discovery Bay through Gardiner to the Jefferson-Clallam county line.

Clallam County Fire District 3 serves about 30,000 residents in 135 square miles from east of Deer Park Road to the Jefferson County line.

The area that would switch districts includes Precincts 101, 102 and Precinct 103 where Craig Road runs off Chicken Coop Road.

Vogel said Gardiner residents should verify their red county property address markers with their new fire district.

The markers are intended to standardize addresses for dispatchers. They were required as part of the switch to statewide Enhanced 9-1-1 in the early 1990s.

Enhanced 9-1-1 brings up a caller's name and address on the dispatcher's computer screen to speed up response times.



Reach Brian Gawley at bgawley@sequimgazette.com.