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Cadden quits fire chief position

Point Roberts fire department division chief Mike Cadden is calling it quits. ‘I just want to go back home,” Cadden said. “Mostly it’s personal reasons.”

Cadden came to the Point Roberts fire department from Natches at the beginning of the year, and had hoped to sell his house and relocate to the Point with his wife by spring. That hasn’t happened. “Fixing up the house and getting things ready with me here was just too much. Now my wife has a new job,” he said.

Cadden also said the responsibility of manning the quick response vehicle around the clock and responding to medical emergencies in four minutes, even at 4 a.m. was too much pressure. “That means I can’t go for a walk with my wife. I have to wear a pager in the shower,” he said.

North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Services chief Mike Campbell acknowledged that being the only career firefighter on the Point meant the division chief had to pick up any hours volunteers weren’t available to cover. The fire department has eight volunteers qualified in intermediate life support who can man the vehicle. Out of 720 hours in April, Cadden was on call for the emergency response vehicle for 415. In addition, the division chief is a salaried administrative position, and is not compensated for extra hours worked. In other divisions, the chief does not routinely respond to calls.

Campbell said he would be going over options with commissioners at the July meeting to hire a new division chief or change how Point Roberts gets 24-hour coverage. Another option would be to move a captain from the North Whatcom bargaining unit to Point Roberts who would call in another career firefighter when volunteers were not available outside of his work hours. “You would be buying overtime when volunteers weren’t available,” Campbell said.

The next meeting of Point Roberts fire commissioners is July 11 at 2 p.m...

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