June 26, 2025
Long-awaited overnight staffing will start at the Mabana fire station late this summer, once construction is complete on temporary living quarters.
Getting 24/7 staffing at the island’s south-end station has been a priority for Camano Fire – and for residents – for years.
“Building temporary bedrooms and updating bathrooms isn’t our permanent solution, but we knew it would be the fastest way to get Mabana staffed full time while we finish the permitting process for a new station,” Chief Jason Allen said.
The plan is to take a two-phased approach. The first phase is a remodel of the existing station to accommodate crew sleeping areas, which are not a part of the current station.
The second phase is construction of a new Mabana fire station suitable for 24/7 staffing and community use. The new station will be a few hundred feet south of the existing station, on property the district already owns. This two-phased approach allows construction of the new station to move ahead without affecting emergency response from the current station.
After more than a year of prep work, Camano Fire is ready to submit a building permit for construction of the temporary bedrooms. The district also has the required variances from Island County that allow it to begin the planning and building design for the new station on the Mabana station property.
“Saving money was a big part of our decision to build on the existing property,” Allen said. “We already have water, utilities, and infrastructure in place to support a fire station. Island County understood that and helped us work through the right steps to make this project work.”
The public planning process for the new station will begin in earnest once Camano Fire selects and hires an architect. There’s no timeline for that process yet.
Mabana is the district’s oldest fire station. It was built in 1956 and last remodeled more than 40 years ago, in 1980 – that’s 12 years before voters approved a unified fire district and 18 years before Camano Fire hired its first paid firefighters. The station never included sleeping quarters because it was originally intended as a volunteer-only facility.
In 2023, voters approved a fire levy lid lift that included funding to hire additional personnel and remodel or rebuild the Mabana station to support round-the-clock staffing.
Since 2024, firefighters have staffed Mabana during the day but spend nights at the nearest station with sleeping quarters – the Country Club fire station.