An open letter to North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing:

Our family moved to North Bend over 20 years ago. I always thought the fire department was the responsibility of the county or some other regional agency, something like our police department. That misnomer really doesn’t change what I saw today, as you gave me the grand tour of our North Bend/ King County Fire District 38 building. I’m glad you accepted my offer to take photos of the old fire station, originally built in 1941. I can’t believe it’s older than I am, wow!

What I saw today and photographed for your upcoming meetings was very disturbing. It scares me to think of the dangerous conditions our protectors, Medic One and our fire fighters are forced to deal with in an emergency. I wish all residents of District 38 would take five minutes and visit our first class protectors who have 21st Century, top notch fire fighting equipment housed in very unsafe conditions.

If a higher magnitude earthquake hit North Bend, that state of the art equipment could be rendered useless and our first class protectors would be unable to save lives.

I’m retired on a fixed income and will volunteer to help you promote funding the new fire department building and be one of the first to sign “yes” on the ballot.

Sandy Horvath

North Bend