The Everett Marina is facing dramatic changes in the upcoming year. Our city plans to demolish the current waterfront building structures for a completely new kind of development.

The marina will no longer be an industrial area — it will be a thriving residential and community environment with shops, condominiums, tourist attractions and hundreds of new moorage slips for boat owners. The waterfront will be a spectacular atmosphere for people to flock to, and is expected to be a strong financial boost for the city of Everett. Among the buildings scheduled for demolition at the current waterfront is Fire Station 3, which serves the Everett Marina and surrounding area.

When our City Council made the decision to make these changes to our marina, it designated the necessary funds for rebuilding at the marina — including appropriating funds to rebuild Station 3. It was expected from the beginning of these development plans that the fire station would be rebuilt, and the funds for the station were included in those plans.

In the past few months, discussions have been developing between the Everett firefighters union and the City Council and mayor. The firefighters have become concerned that there appear to be no plans being considered by Mayor Ray Stephanson to rebuild Station 3.

Our primary concern with the extensive plans to develop residential and business property at the marina is to make sure that the mayor intends to rebuild Fire Station 3 at the marina to continue providing protection as the area itself explodes in growth and risk.

Our initial discussions with City Council members have proven to be very encouraging. The majority of council members understand the need for protection at the waterfront, and recognize the unique nature of providing fire protection and emergency medical service to a marina. We are each concerned with the safety and protection of the people of Everett, and we agree that an area which is scheduled for massive new growth will need the protection of a fire station.

Our continuing concern is that despite our efforts to get a commitment from Stephanson to take the necessary steps to make plans to rebuild the station at the marina, he still has not given one.

We sense politics at work here. But Everett firefighters are uninterested; our only concern is in rebuilding Station 3 at the Everett Marina to secure the protection of the city that we serve.

As firefighters, the safety of the public is at the top of our priority list — and I hope the mayor agrees that it should be at the top of his.

Both Seattle and Everett have seen the effects of waterfront fires in the past few years. Firefighting and responding to Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls on the waterfront require specific training and a unique response team.

Arriving at a scene on the marina in less than a few minutes is a challenge, but maneuvering a fire truck or an ambulance to a fire or medical emergency on the waterfront is particularly difficult. Without a fire boat, it already takes longer for a fire-suppression team to get to any fires that occur at the docks, and without having a fire station at the marina, response times will increase and danger to life and property will escalate.

The Everett firefighters are committed to the public safety of the people we serve, and we expect our city officials to have the same priorities. We urge the mayor to commit to rebuilding the fire station at the Everett Marina for the safety and protection of the new developments at the waterfront, and for the people who will enjoy them.