Inside the City 16 March 2023 Edition

Inside the City of Tumwater

Date: March 13, 2023

To: Mayor Debbie Sullivan

City Councilmembers

City Employees

From: John Doan, City Administrator

Have you met our Building & Fire Inspector?

PEOPLE

Paramedic Joins Us from Hoquiam

Eli Fox is joining the City as a Firefighter/Paramedic, filling an existing vacant position. Eli graduated from River Ridge High School, the Tacoma Community College Paramedic Program, and the Bates Technical College Firefighter Program. Since 2019, he has worked for the Hoquiam Fire Department. Great to have you on the team Eli!

We’ve Added Another Police Officer

Javkhlan Battumur, who goes by “Jack,” has joined our Police Department. Jack was born in Mongolia and came to the US with his family. He grew up in Colorado, spent 7 years in the US Army, and left his final duty station at JBLM. He continues to serve in the National Guard. He and his family live in the area and he is the BHHS girl’s JV volleyball coach Maybe we need a City volleyball team? Welcome, Jack! He is awaiting an open slot at the State’s Law Enforcement Academy.

Eric Heide is the Building & Fire Safety Inspector for the City. He holds a residential building inspector credential through the International Code Council

Eric was first hired by the City as a project building inspector to help with the increased workload and demand on the Community Development Department prompted by Tumwater’s residential construction boom Prior to that, he owned a home building inspection business, worked in banking, and was a school teacher.

We Have a Dahlia Superstar on Our Team!

Our very own Wayne Lobaugh was featured in The Centralia Chronicle for his hobby of raising and hybridizing, dahlias. Wayne has received seven medals from the American Dahlia Society. Check out the article about Wayne and his dahlias . Is it any surprise he supervises our parks maintenance crew?

No. 21 UCLA Women top ASU 81-70 in OT

We don’t usually report women’s basketball scores here, but this game was special because Tumwater Golf Operations Coordinator, Tyler Trimble, was one of the referees for this opening PAC-12 tournament game. Next time you are watching college basketball, watch for Tyler!

Q. How Many Catch Basins Do We Have?

A. Answer: 3,610

Catch basins are very important because they are the link between our street systems where chemicals, debris, and runoff enter our stormwater collection and treatment systems and our natural systems (streams, rivers, lakes, Puget Sound). Having an inventory and keeping them clean is very important to our goal of keeping the environment clean. This month, our water resources/stormwater team completed a 4-month project of inventorying all of those catch basins.

The team that did the work, includes Dave Kangiser and Matthew Joseph from Water Resources, Jennifer Radcliff and Georgianna Strobin from the GIS Division, and the Stormwater Crew of Mark Teigen (Lead) along with Jeff Cota, Dale Kapsandy, Levi Loewen, and Timothy Bell. Thank you for the great work Team Catch Basin!

Next up, is cleaning and maintaining about 1,000 of those catch basins.

EVENTS

Garden Club Forms

The Wellness Committee is launching a Garden Club for City employees. Just a couple of the benefits of gardening include increased exercise, improved diet, reduced stress levels, and improved mental health and social connection. Cathy Nielson, in Transportation and Engineering, is leading this effort. Activities will take place during lunch hours and outside of normal working hours and are

completely voluntary. Please reach out to Cathy if you want to be part of the gardening fun.

Stream Team News: Spring Edition

Facts about beavers and other information about our environment comes from are featured in the Stream Team newsletter. Water Resources Specialist Grant Gilmore plays a major role in the regional efforts to educate the community about the environment and our efforts to protect it. You can read the newsletter online.

PLACES

Big Things at DRC

The Development Review Committee is looking at:

• Feasibility Review of the conversion of 94,000 s.f. of office space at Point Plaza East (4-6) to approx. 185 residential units. (This is an interesting project because it is a direct result of the dramatic move of office workers to teleworking during COVID.)

• Formal Review of the Belmont Flats Project – 15 acres of mixed-use development with 614 residential units, 10 live/work spaces, and 27,500 s.f. of commercial space.

• Feasibility Review of “Tumwater Commercial 101” – proposal for 9 commercial lots on 54 acres at the SW corner of I-5 and Tumwater Blvd.

• Formal Review of 29,200 s.f. metal commercial building at 8913 Select Ct. SE.

Remember that Feasibility Review is often speculative and happens at the very early stages when people are considering projects. They often represent a minimal investment in design and frequently do not materialize in the form originally presented. The formal review is the last step before submitting a building permit and usually demonstrates a significant investment in design and engineering. Projects reaching formal review usually materialize.

INSIDE THE CITY

Illustrating our Mission, Vision, or Beliefs in Action.

Sometime, the To Do list goes out the window. On Wednesday, a little before noon, our IT team was happily doing their work when at 11:09 a.m. the fiber optic line that connects most City facilities got cut. That included the connections to TCOMM, Golf, T2, Old Town Center, museums, the water filling station, and the SCADA system that monitors our utilities. Ouch!

Several systems, like the Police and the utilities, were able to switch to radio backup. Lance Inman, our IT Team, and staff from departments were able to create interim fixes with golf using the restaurant internet, OTC using the daycare connection, and T2 using a new cellular fix.

Restoring the regular connection happened Sunday.

A huge shout-out goes to Lance and his team (as echoed by several City staff) for going “above and beyond” and thinking outside the box to get things up and running during this surprise interruption!

UPDATE: City Administrator Recruitment

The deadline for the first reading was Monday, and we have at least 18 applicants. The recruiter anticipates that a couple more applications will trickle in. This number of applicants, which includes candidates with traditional and non-traditional backgrounds, is similar to those they are seeing in other jurisdictions.

The recruiter will screen the applicants, designate a smaller list of semi-finalists, and then conduct phone interviews. From there, a recommended list of candidates will be presented for consideration as finalists. Then, the finalists will be invited to the City for in-person interviews. Interviews and a public reception are scheduled for April 10 & 11.

We are excited that we have this amount of interest in this important position. Tumwater is a good place to be!

Nightwork at Capitol Blvd & Trosper Rd.

Police Department

Monthly Report

To: John Doan, City Administrator

From: Jon Weiks, Chief of Police

Date: March 15, 2023

Re: February 2023

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

2023-0309 Mental Health Crisis –

At approximately 2000 hours, officers were dispatched to a local apartment complex for a report of unknown trouble The reporting party notified Dispatch that he was in the laundry room and man was outside pointing a gun at him Dispatch notified responding officers that the reporting party was not making sense with the things he was reporting. Upon arrival, officers located the reporting party, who appeared to be in mental crisis based on their observations of his demeanor, actions and words The reporting party reported the man with a gun was unknown to him, but he had seen him before and he had been in a car pointing a gun at him. The reporting party did not know why the man would do that nor was he to provide a description or any identifying information for the man or the vehicle he was alleged to have been in When officers inquired about why the reporting party was in the laundry room, he reported he did not live there and was trying to stay warm and charge his phone. While talking to the reporting party, officers learned the he was also armed with a firearm. The firearm was discovered to be a CO2 pistol The reporting party denied removing the pistol from his bag when the man pointed a gun at him. Based on the reporting party appearing to be in mental crisis, he voluntarily agreed to turn the pistol over to the officers to be placed in safekeeping at the police department. The reporting party was provided a courtesy transport to a nearby bus stop Officers were unable to locate any witnesses or video surveillance that captured the reported incident Officers also did not observe any occupied vehicles or persons in the area when they arrived on scene The case was closed as leads exhausted.

2023-0316 Robbery 1st - At approximately 0433 hours, officers were dispatched to a report of a suspicious circumstance at a local convenience store/gas station. Then the store employee called and reported three males wearing masks and hoods were running around the store The employee also reported one of the males was armed with a gun. Prior to officers arriving, the suspects fled the scene in a small red car. When officers arrived and made contact with the employee he reported he had been robbed at gunpoint The employee reported the males entered the store and he was threatened by the male with the gun and he was ordered to hand over the cash from the register. The other suspects grabbed items from the store including cigars, alcohol, and hats. Other responding officers scoured the area and located the abandoned suspect vehicle nearby, still running and the doors left open. A K9 and his handler

responded to the scene and conducted a track, but the track ended where it appeared the suspects may have fled in a waiting vehicle. The vehicle was impounded to be processed for latent prints and DNA evidence. The vehicle was determined to have been stolen earlier that morning in Pierce County. Officers collected video surveillance from the business to assist with identifying the suspects who were masked and not quickly identifiable. There have been two other robberies in Olympia and Tumwater within a twoweek period with similar circumstances and similarly dressed suspects The suspects are stealing Hyundai and Kia vehicles to drive to the robbery locations. They are then abandoning the vehicles nearby and fleeing in a different stolen Hyundai and/or Kia to leave the area undetected. At this time, this is still an active investigation.

2023-0354 Robbery 1st - At approximately 1058 hours, officers were dispatched to a report of a robbery with a gun involved at a convenience store/gas station . The reporting party reported three males wearing masks entered the business, walked behind the counter and waived a gun while stating it was a “robbery” The suspects stole the cash from the register, cigarettes, and other items in the store. The suspects then fled in a Hyundai. A witness captured a photo of the license plate and provided it to arriving officers, as well as notifying officers of the last known direction of travel Responding officers quickly located the vehicle abandoned in a nearby parking lot The vehicles was discovered to be stolen in Pierce County earlier in the day Officers also learned the vehicle was used by suspects in an attempted auto theft on the State Capitol campus prior to the robbery. The car was impounded to be processed for latent and DNA evidence by the WSP Crime Scene Response Team. Not long after the robbery, a report of a stolen Kia was reported by a citizen who resided within a block of where the Hyundai had been abandoned. It is believed the suspects stole the Kia to flee the scene to avoid being captured This is believed to the same crew in similar robberies that have occurred in Tumwater, Olympia, and Pierce County. The suspects involved were wearing masks, but one or more of the suspects are believed to have been involved in the other robberies based on clothing, stature and features. Detectives are making progress on i dentifying the responsible parties This is an active investigation.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG DROP BOX

The public deposited 90 pounds of prescription drugs in February and a total of 135 pounds for the year.

BUDGET

At the end of the month, the police department budget is 13% spent for the year.

K-9 STATISTICS

Officer Mize & K9 James had 4 deployments this month:

• Two Narcotic Deployments

o Assisted a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputy with a free-air sniff of a vehicle that had been impounded earlier in the day. Officer Mize responded to the TCSO impound lot and deployed K9 James around the exterior of the vehicle K9 James was given a sniff command and upon approaching the driver’s door he provided an alert to the presence of narcotic odor K9 James continued around the vehicle and again provided an alert at the passenger side door Officer Mize then completed and provided the deputy a probable cause statement in support of a search warrant application Officer Mize and K9 James secured from the scene The following day the deputy reported back to Officer Mize they had obtained a search warrant and recovered 83.9 grams of methamphetamine from inside the vehicle.

o Assisted Thurston County Narcotics detectives with a free-air sniff of a vehicle they had stopped and taken the driver into custody for prior narcotics distribution related charges. Officer Mize responded to the scene and deployed K9 James around the exterior of the

vehicle K9 James was given a sniff command and upon approaching the driver’s door he provided an alert to the presence of narcotic odor K9 James also provided an alert at the trunk of the vehicle and again at the passenger door Officer Mize then completed and provided the detectives a probable cause statement in support of a search warrant application Officer Mize and K9 James secured from the scene. The detectives have not reported back any results to Officer Mize.

• Tracking Deployment

o Responded with other Tumwater officers to a robbery that had just occurred at a local gas station Officer Mize was approaching the scene when he was advised of a witness report of a possible suspect vehicle nearby Officer Mize responded to that area and located the suspect vehicle stopped in the parking lot of a closed business. The vehicle was running and the back doors were open Multiple other officers responded to this location and the vehicle was found to be unoccupied. Officer Mize then deployed K9 James at the vehicle and provided several K9 warning/surrender announcements The announcements went unanswered and K9 James was given a track command K9 James was able to acquire the suspects’ scent and began pulling hard on his leash as he tracked the suspects away from the vehicle K9 James tracked the suspects a couple of blocks to a nearby intersection, where K9 James showed signs he was no longer on a strong track. The suspects were believed to have driven away from this location in another vehicle K9 James was taken back to the abandoned suspect vehicle (later determined to be a stolen vehicle) to conduct an evidence search. The search did not result in the recovery of any evidence.

• Confirmation Track/Evidence Search Deployment

o Assisted the Olympia Police Department with a confirmation/evidence search as a result of a robbery from a West Olympia convenience store Officer Mize had responded to the store to assist with tracking the suspect who had fled the scene, but was originally unable to deploy K9 James when he learned the suspect was believed to be a juvenile However, while still on scene an OPD officer notified they had located and detained a suspect nearby As such, Officer Mize deployed K9 James to do confirmation track and to attempt to locate any evidence along the track K9 James was taken to a jacket left at the scene to obtain the suspect’s scent K9 James was then given a track command and led Officer Mize directly to where the suspect was detained by the OPD officer About 20 feet prior to the OPD officer’s vehicle K9 James provided an alert to an item under a tree An OPD officer recovered a stolen bottle of wine taken during the robbery.

Officer Grimmett & K9 Thor had one deployment this month:

• Building Search Deployment

o Assisted the Lacey Police Department with attempting to locate an Assault 2nd degree –Domestic Violence and Residential Burglary – Domestic Violence in violation of a protection order suspect believed to be hiding in an apartment. Upon arrival at the scene, a contact team was assembled, with Officer Grimmett deploying K9 Thor in the l ead position The contact team approached the front door of the apartment and several surrender announcements were made without a response K9 Thor was then given a search command and entered the apartment K9 Thor led officers to a locked bedroom door, where further surrender orders were provided without a response. The bedroom door was forced open, but the suspect was not located inside Officer Grimmett removed K9 Thor from inside the apartment while the other officers completed a secondary search of the apartment. The suspect was located hiding in a hallway closet under a pile of clothing and was taken into custody without incident.

SRO ACTIVITY

School Resource Officer Tyler Boling activity:

• Investigated a report of a Tumwater Middle School student who had used a controlled substance when the student was at home SRO Boling made contact with the student and their parents to talk about the illegal use of narcotics He also attempted to identify who provided the controlled substances to the student, but he was unsuccessful The incident was closed as resolved, but he provided an open invitation to talk further in the future.

• Investigated a report from a parent regarding her 18 year-old child who had failed to return home the night prior. SRO Boling made contact with the student at school and spoke to the student about connecting with their parent and open communication SRO Boling followed-up with the parent to ensure the two had connected and the issues were resolved.

• Assisted Peter G. Schmidt Elementary staff with ongoing issues involving two separate families involving their children at school . The ongoing issues have resulted in responses from patrol, school administrative actions, and a verbal altercation between the parents that occurred at a school concert. SRO Boling spoke to all involved parties to find a resolution and informed them of ways they could proceed This was not a criminal matter and the families were referred to the Tumwater School District Officer for any further issues.

• Investigated a report of graffiti in the boy’s bathroom at Bush Middle School . During his investigation, SRO Boling identified a group of boys potentially responsible One of the boys was positively identified as the suspect and confessed SRO Boling turned the incident over to the school administrators to handle any discipline.

• A Tumwater High School student reached out to SRO Boling regarding someone reaching out to her that she did not know via Snapchat The student didn’t feel safe. SRO Boling provided the student with advice on how to handle the situation and gave the student the best course of action to feel safe at school.

• Investigated a report of a Tumwater High School student who sent a Snapchat to another student inquiring about obtaining a firearm for self-harm. SRO Boling contacted the student and learned the student was upset and was considering self-harm SRO Boling connected the student with a counselor and then called the student’s parent SRO Boling determined the student did not have access to a firearm The student was released to their parent to get the help they need SRO Rollman contacted the Black Hills High School student who received the message and confirmed that student does not have access to a firearm. That student reported having dealt with some mental health issues and that the message caused a reaction to revisit those issues SRO Rollman helped the student resolve the current issue and referred the student to the school counselor for follow-up.

• Provided a tour of the police department to students in the Olympia Transition Program. He also talked about a career in law enforcement, and showed students his police car.

• Attended Tumwater Youth Program events for Tumwater School District middle school students.

• Provided security at some of the Tumwater High School and Black Hills High School basketball games.

School Resource Officer Rosco Rollman activity:

• Investigated a report from Tumwater School District Transportation that an unknown adult male had followed two students (Black Hills High School & Tumwater Middle School) home after they got off the bus. Two days later, that same male reportedly appeared at the student’s house in the middle of the night and rang the doorbell SRO Rollman watched video surveillance of the incidents and recognized the male as someone law enforcement has had frequent contact with,

and who is frequently intoxicated and transient SRO Rollman was able to locate the male, who was arrested for outstanding warrants.

• A Black Hills High School student reached out to SRO Rollman to talk to him about issues they were having at home SRO Rollman listened to the student and then provided counsel The student was also advised of resources available to them.

• Helped de- escalate a Black Hills High School student who was in crisis SRO Rollman has had success in the past with talking to and de-escalating the student. When SRO Rollman entered the room, the student immediately calmed down and talked with SRO Rollman SRO Rollman was able to resolve the situation and the student got back to work.

• Assisted Tumwater officers with a Black Hills High School student who was in a mental health crisis at home and had suicidal ideations SRO Rollman was able to communicate with the student and help resolve the situation The student exited the residence without incident and was then transported to a hospital for care.

• Investigated a report from two Tumwater Middle School students, who reported they were both shot with airsoft BB’s while they were waiting at an Intercity Transit bus stop Neither student sustained injuries nor did they know the person/s who shot them, but they were able to provide a vehicle description of the truck that passed when they were shot SRO Rollman reviewed video surveillance of the area, but was unable to identify the suspect/s or vehicle involved. The students and their parents were advised of the case status and to contact him if it were to happen again

• Assisted Tumwater Middle School staff with a student who was angry and in crisis, as well as being physically assaultive towards staff Once the student was de-escalated enough to safely return to class, SRO Rollman escorted the student and the staff member back to the classroom.

• Assisted Traffic Officer Clark investigating a report of a multiple reckless driving complaints involving a Black Hills High School student, who had been driving recklessly through nearby neighborhoods. SRO Rollman identified the student and the two officers talked with the student at school about his driving behaviors The matter was referred to the school administrators, since some of the driving behaviors were on-campus.

• Assisted Tumwater Middle School staff with a school dance for middle school students 6-8th grades.

• Provided security at some of the Tumwater High School and Black Hills High School basketball games.

CODE ENFORCEMENT

Code Enforcement opened two cases this month:

• Report of numerous cars in disrepair and junk or garbage being stored outside a residence

• Report of numerous inoperable vehicles on a residential property

Code Enforcement closed three cases this month:

• 2021 case regarding illegal tree cutting and vegetation removal from a protected wetland area was closed after the HOA completed the replanting of the area.

• Trash, overgrown vegetation and inoperable vehicles were removed from a residential property after issuance of a notice of violation.

• A homeless encampment on undeveloped commercial property was cleaned up after issuance of a notice of violation.

Code Enforcement currently has 15 open cases.

QUANTIFIABLE ACTIVITY

* Self-Initiatedincludes: investigativefollow-ups,civilpaperworkservice,areachecks,business checks,schoolvisits, residentcontacts,trafficstopsandback-upactivity.

PERSONNEL

• Laura Wohl, Administrative Manager – 5 years of service

• Rachael Black, Officer – 4 years of service

TRAINING

• One member attended a three-day CISM/GRIN course

• One member attended BAC Refresher

• One member attended a three-day Patrol Tactics course

• Two members attended a two-day course on Low-light Handgun & Carbine

• Two members completed an Intro to Communication online course

• Two members completed a Historical Intersection to Race online course

• Four TPD members of Thurston County SWAT attended monthly training

• Two TPD member of Thurston County CNT attended quarterly training

• Seventeen members attended internal patrol tactics training

169 total training hours

COMMUNITY ACTIVITY

Detective Lieutenant Jennifer Kolb provided a personal safety presentation at the Streamland Estates HOA meeting.

Detective Lieutenant Jennifer Kolb assisted the Lacey Police Department with two promotional testing processes.

Transportation & Engineering

Water Resources & Sustainability

March 2023

PERSONNEL UPDATES & ANNIVERSARIES

Steve Craig

WRS Operations Manager | 03/09/1990, 33yrs

Kelly Crawford Senior Inspector | 03/14/1990, 33yrs

Danny Miller

Engineering Tech IV | 03/23/1992, 31 yrs

Jerry Leaming

WRS/TED Electrician | 03/02/1998 25 yrs

TRANSPORTATION & ENGINEERING PROJECTS IN DESIGN

Capitol Boulevard, Israel Road to M Street Design

The design phase for this project is nearing final completion.

The X Street roundabout will be the first project to move to construction. The right-of-way phase for the project has begun and construction is expected to begin in 2023.

Israel Road / Linderson Way Water Main

This project will replace the water main on Israel Road from Interstate 5 to Capitol Boulevard along with a small segment on Linderson Way. The project was prioritized to complete needed improvements shown in the City’s Water System Plan ahead of a roadway improvements along Israel Road slated for construction in 2024.

Final preparation for bid documents is in progress and construction bidding is expected to occur in April 2023. Construction is expected to occur over the summer of 2023.

2023 Pavement Maintenance Project

City staff is currently preparing construction documents for the 2023 Pavement Maintenance Project. The project will include asphalt repair, asphalt overlay, roadway crack sealing, and pavement striping efforts on various roadway throughout the city. It is expected that design will be completed in March 2023 and construction will occur between July and September of 2023.

PROJECTS IN PROGRESS

Interstate 5 / Trosper Road / Capitol Boulevard

Reconfiguration

Construction is currently underway. The contractor, Active Construction Incorporated, is working in multiple areas within the project limits. The main focus has been sanitary sewer installation along Capitol Boulevard which is near completion. The next step will be to complete the sanitary sewer run along Linda Street. Initial clearing and grubbing, grading, and installation of the stormwater system has begun on the new 6th Avenue alignment The contractor is also currently installing the water main along Lee Street and will follow with the stormwater system improvements.

Work is progressing well and the contractor is meeting their project schedule. Underground utility installation will continue this spring to include installation of the new sewer, water, storm, and dry utility installations.

WATER RESOURCES & SUSTAINABILITY

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Free Tree Giveaway on April 22nd

The City of Tumwater will celebrate Arbor Day with a free event on Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 10:00 a m until 12:00 p m at Tumwater Historical Park. At this event, residents can take home free potted native trees for the first one hundred people and have the opportunity to ask a professional forester, a landscape architect, and a horticulturist about the proper care and planting of trees. This year, in response to the Monarch butterfly being declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Tree Board will also be giving away native wildflower seeds including showy milkweed which provides critically important habitat for Monarchs.

COLLABORATING WITH BEAVERS Thriving Habitats through Maintenance

The City’s beaver population is thriving. We have several areas in the City that support healthy beaver habitats; however these same areas often overlap with City rightsof-way and infrastructure. Maintenance staff have been managing these areas by best management practices designed to reduce impacts to the built environment while maintaining supportive habitat conditions for the beaver. Flexible levelers are used to regulate water levels being impacted by beaver dams, and culvert exclusion devices are used to keep beavers from building dams inside of culverts. Each year the City reports the number of times crews installed and maintained these structures to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Since we started using these management tools, maintenance crews have been called to these sites less and less each year:

• 2020: +20 maintenance events

• 2021: 16 maintenance events

• 2022: 5 maintenance events

The management tools are designed to be low cost for installation and regular maintenance They also help to reduce localized flooding in neighborhoods so beavers can coexist with Tumwater businesses and residents. This strategy is a win–win–win for beavers, maintenance crews and city ratepayers, and helps enhance the way of life in Tumwater.

Sanitary sewer installation along Lee Street

Showy milkweed

Flexible leveler at the Palermo Wetland Complex

STORMWATER CATCH BASIN CLEANUP

A Big Win with our Improved Inspection Process

The City is required to inspect 50% of the city’s stormwater catch basins annually. In November 2022, the Stormwater crew implemented updated procedures and data collection tools that have significantly improved the inspection process. We are extremely happy to announce that the Stormwater Operations crew has inspected all 3,610 City-owned catch basins in Tumwater since November 2022. This is quite an accomplishment and would not have been possible without the dedication of Mark Teigen and the Stormwater maintenance crew with support from David Kangiser, Matthew Joseph, Jennifer Radcliff and Georgianna Strobin. Now that the inspections are complete, the crew is focusing on cleaning and maintenance identified during the inspection process. Great job by everyone involved.

Catch basin inspection and cleanout

Message from the Chief

The Tumwater Fire Department is again partnering with the American Red Cross to promote Home Fire Safety. Through this program, community members can request the installation of smoke detectors at no cost. The Fire Department will also provide home fire safety inspections and development of home fire escape plans. Please contact the Fire Department at (360) 754-4170 for more information.

Brian Hurley

Five Tumwater Paramedics, along with Olympia Fire Department and Lacey Fire District 3, completed a 24-hour training program to become super-users in Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS). These five Paramedics will be participating in a study on the use of ultrasound in pre-hospital cardiac arrests. POCUS will allow paramedics to better assess sick patients, enhancing their ability to treat patients successfully.

Community Outreach

The Fire Department participates with various community partners to donate birthday experiences to their auction events. The Department helped celebrate the first auction birthday of 2023. During the party, crews provided tours of the bay, fire engines, and medic unit.

Medical Services Officer

Suppression Report

Training Officer

The Department hosted Incident Command Blue Card Train the Trainer program. Battalion Chiefs (BC) Brad Ridgeway and BC Josh Stewart participated in and, with external partners, earned certification in the program. The Blue Card training program provides fire departments with training and certification that defines the best Standard Command Practices for common, local everyday strategic, and tactical emergency operations. BC Ridgeway and BC Stewart are now certified trainers within the Department. This training program produces Incident Commanders who make better decisions, potentially eliminating lethal or costly mistakes that can cause unnecessary fire loss, injury, or death.

In the late morning of February 5, crews responded to a report of an electrical fire at a local business. On-scene crews located a small fire in a pump motor and an additional motor overheating.

In the late evening on February 12, crews responded to a service call for a report of a tree on a house. The tree broke apart from the trunk and fell onto the house. It collapsed a portion of the trust system, broke several windows, and limbs came through the ceiling. Luckily, the homeowners were not injured.