Benton County Fire District 6, in the Paterson and Plymouth area, has taken delivery and placed into service a surplus boat from the Benton County Sheriff’s Department. On March 16, 2021, the Benton County Commissioners approved the surplus sale of a 24-foot Wind River jet boat that no longer met the needs for the Sheriff’s Department. Interim Sheriff Jon Law and Fire Chief Rolland Watt negotiated the sale and a mutual aid agreement between the agencies.
The partnership between the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Fire District 6 will ensure a quick response during an emergency on the waterways in the south part of the county. In years past the Benton County Sheriff’s Office would have to trailer a boat from Kennewick to the south end of the county and that could take up to an hour to be on the water. With the partnership, Fire District 6 will drastically improve the response time and will be on the water within minutes. We will continue to work together and ensure our community members are safe while enjoying the water.
The Benton County Fire District 6 Commissioners supported the project and allocated funds to purchase, repair and upgrade the boats capabilities. Chief Watt applied for, and received, a $12,000 Washington Department of Natural Resources grant that assisted with the purchase of a new pump and firefighting equipment for the boat. The new boat allows for firefighting access to thirty miles of the Columbia River shoreline. Areas that were once very difficult to reach, are now accessible. Over several months the Career Staff and Volunteers of Fire District 6 worked on the boat to make it ready for service. The repairs and upgrades were completed just in time, as the boat has already been called for service several times on the Columbia River.
Completed Fire/Rescue Boat 1631
Completed Fire/Rescue Boat 1631
The surplus Sheriff’s boat before purchase
Since the partnership, Fire District 6 was able to launch the boat in an effort to locate a boat operator who had accidentally activated his emergency beacon, assist a disabled boater who was towed to safety and rescued several individuals from a sinking boat in inclement weather. In all cases the Benton County Sheriff’s Deputies were able to respond and assist Fire District 6 with crewing the boat as the information was being passed along by dispatch. An extraordinary amount of time was saved because of this arrangement between Fire District 6 and the Sheriff Department. Every minute is precious when responding to a critical emergency.
