For the first time in its history, the Buckley Fire Department has career first responders staffing the station at all hours of the day and night.

According to Chief Eric Skogen, the recent voter-approved EMS levy lid lift allowed the department to begin hiring more staff last summer, “but as of Jan. 1… we can say that we now have a career firefighter/EMT always on duty.”

The levy lid lift is allowing the BFD to collect a full 50 cents per $1,000 in assessed property revenue, up from 30 cents, through 2030, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars more in tax revenue for the department every year.

This has allowed the department to hire two more first responders, and it is in the process of hiring a third, Skogen said. This brings the total number of career first responders to four (not including Skogen), plus three additional paramedics contracted with the BFD through Olympic Ambulance.

“We’re just excited to be able to provide that level of service to the community,” he continued, thanking voters for supporting the fire department. “… Our volunteers [firefighters] have been and always will be the backbone of the department, but by hiring full-time personnel, it now ensures there’s zero gaps in staffing.”

This time last year, BFD’s career first responders only staffed the station until 5 p.m., leaving volunteer firefighters to cover the night shift.

But there was not always a volunteer firefighter immediately available, which meant it sometimes took longer for first responders to react to an emergency.

“Our volunteers have always done a superb job, but there were times that there would be no volunteer on duty,” Skogen said. “… Now I can always tell the public that there’s always two people here to get the unit out the door immediately as opposed to waiting for five to seven minutes.”

The extra staffing is coming on board none too soon, as call volumes continue to increase in Buckley and unincorporated Pierce County as more people move to the area.

According to the city of Buckley’s recently-approved Comprehensive Plan, the city’s goal is to bring 3,000 more people into the city by 2044 for a total of 8,000 residents.

“We’ve seen steady growth… in call volume the last number of years… We know that our call volume will continue increasing with the population boom that we have going right now.”

On average, the Buckley Fire Department receives 4.5 calls a day, and nearly 80% are EMS-related.