My career in the fire service began humbly more than 30 years ago. I started as a high school intern and progressed to volunteer and then career firefighter. For the past 17 years, I have been one of your elected fire commissioners. Soon after becoming a commissioner, it became apparent that combining district resources would help us keep up with state and federal mandates as well as the rising costs of providing service for the growing needs of our community. The trend in Washington state was for small cities to contract for fire and EMS services with surrounding fire districts or annex into the surrounding fire district. Examples include the cities of Sequim, Poulsbo and Shelton, which all have annexed into their neighboring fire districts. We continue to face many challenges. Together we can weather these issues and grow as a department.