Turmoil for Fire 12

In the past week, Fire District 12 has lost insurance coverage, been declared a disaster area and saw all three of its commissioners resign.

Mason County Administrator Mark Neary said the May 17 disaster declaration was "unprecedented" for a fire district.

"I've done a lot of research and I've been unable to find this happening anywhere else," Neary told commissioners. "We are in uncharted territory," he said.

Residents of the district, which covers western Mason County, including Matlock and some areas of eastern Grays Harbor County, should see no change in emergency response.

911 calls from the area will be directed by MACECOM to a variety of first responders, including neighboring fire districts, volunteers and state-provided teams, according to county officials.

Fire 12 became inoperable after its insurer, VFIS, canceled the policy May 17 due to mismanagement.

Mason County commissioners quickly declared a disaster so the state could step in with resources.

"I believe this is a necessity and needs to be done," Commissioner Randy Neatherlin said before the vote.

The district can't provide fire and EMS services until new insurance is found. According to Fire 12's broker Nicholson & Associates, that won't happen until all commissioners who were in office prior to 2024 step down.

That happened May 19.

Fire 12 Commissioners Kelli Walsworth and Cinda Compton, who were appointed by the previously recalled board in 2023, resigned at a special meeting Sunday along with Nick Jones.

An accountability audit and fraud investigation released by the state Auditor's Office in September 2022 said the district misappropriated almost $70,000 in public money and paid $95,000 in unsupported expenses.

Community members organized a recall of Fire 12 Commissioners John Pais, Albert Wilder and Brian Jutson in 2023. They all resigned before the recall, with Compton and Walsworth being appointed sequentially before the commissioners resigned. Jones was the only commissioner of the last group who was elected.

He said he chose to resign with Walsworth and Compton "for the good of the community" and hopes to serve as a commissioner again.

The disaster declaration and resignations came in meetings held in the county commissioners chambers chaired by Neatherlin, who was worried about decorum, given past Fire 12 meetings that have devolved into contentious shouting matches.

"We all live in the same community. Although we have fights today, we want to make sure we don't have fights that live on forever," Neatherlin said, addressing attendees May 17.

The worry was unfounded.

Audience members were respectful, and several addressed the commissioners before the declaration.

Kristen Masteller, a resident of Matlock who supported the commissioners' recall, said she was "very, very pleased" with the disaster declaration.

"It's a long time coming, as my neighbors know. I had hoped it would not be under as dramatic circumstances ... I fully support the commission taking the action today."

Masteller said this is the first of two steps that need to happen.

"A financial crime of fraud is still a crime. As taxpayers and voters in this county, our expectations are you will prioritize these crimes that have happened against the Matlock community, you will investigate, you will prosecute and you will seek restitution."

Trina Young, a Matlock community member, said the "work is not over yet."

Young said "there's still a lot to do" and the public can help with getting laws changed regarding the fire district.

"At this point, a special interest district is a golden ticket to people who are not interested in the best interest of the community," Young said.

The first step now is setting up an incident command team headed by Sheriff Ryan Spurling, according to Neary. Then the county will determine the assets available to respond to emergencies in the district.

Neary said another challenge is that mutual aid agreements with neighboring fire districts are based on everyone having insurance and providing an initial response, which can't apply now to Dist. 12.

"That's based on the fact that you as the fire district where the fire is occurring have insurance, have equipment, have individuals able to respond. In this case, we don't have that anymore," Neary said.

Before voting on the disaster, Commissioner Kevin Shutty wondered how the county could protect Fire 12's assets.

"Once incident command is set up, I'm going to be really interested in what that process looks like so we can ensure that there is no continued use of any district resources by people who are unable to function lawfully as district personnel," Shutty said.

"There is no playbook on this," Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Whitehead said. "It's unusual and unfortunate circumstances."

County commissioners are accepting applications for vacant Fire 12 commission positions 1 and 3 to be submitted no later than noon today. Interviews will be held during a special meeting at 9 a.m. Friday.

County commissioners expect to appoint the new Fire 12 commissioners after the interviews, according to Neary.

Applications are available at the county commission office at 411 N. 5th Street, at the county website at masoncounty.wa.gov, by contacting Board Clerk McKenzie Smith at [email protected] or by calling 360-427-9670.

The new Fire 12 commissioners will appoint the commissioner for position 2.

When asked if Fire 12's insurance will be reinstated once new commissioners are appointed, Neary told the Journal, "We're hopeful."