Over the weekend of Jan. 13-14 and rolling into that adjacent Monday, Mercer Island firefighters received around 50 calls from Islanders regarding frozen and burst pipes during the ultra-low temperatures.

Throughout the region, Eastside Fire & Rescue (EF&R) employees — who cover Mercer Island and other neighboring cities — were flooded with up to 300 calls to help residents in need during that barrage of inclement weather.

EF&R’s Mercer Island Battalion Chief Jordan Simmonds said that the issues with pipes and sprinkler systems during cold snaps bring the firefighters into resource emergency mode. During this time, there can be complaints from residents regarding delays in response times.

“Just because we’re so spread thin that we can’t immediately respond to every 911 call immediately, we have to prioritize those,” he said. “And so, based on the nature of the report, we’re able to put a lower priority on some of these calls because, as you can imagine, if a fire or CPR happens, we want to make sure that we prioritize those calls above those other types of calls.”

Discussing the approximately 50 calls on the Island during that three-day stretch, Simmonds added that every incident should have eventually been addressed and “within a pretty reasonable amount of time.”

In a previous Reporter story, EF&R Public Information Officer Catherine Breault noted that Mercer Island fire stations 91 and 92 have three firefighters — including an Island legacy firefighter with immense knowledge of the area — on staff at all times along with a battalion chief.

To aid with the influx of water flow and 911 calls, EF&R staffed one of its Issaquah fire vehicles and dispatched it to the Island for a 12-hour stretch during the recent chilly days. They also utilize a callback system to bring off-duty employees on board if necessary to bolster their emergency services.

“So there’s a big benefit. Hopefully they (citizens) see it as a big benefit. We certainly appreciate it internally that we are able to increase staffing and manage the calls as the demand goes up,” said Simmonds, adding that upstaffing the Island is part of the robust county-wide mutual aid response plan that EF&R delved into at a meeting on Jan. 8 to prepare for the onslaught of rough weather in the forecast.

During that meeting and within other conversations, Simmonds said they discuss providing the best service possible to the community and communicating with residents about the varying scenarios they face.

“And hopefully that is something that our citizens can understand and empathize with,” said Simmonds, who chose to transfer from Issaquah to work on the Island as a result of the EF&R and Mercer Island merger. “We try to push this sort of (resource emergency) information proactively, but this sort of thing happens and people get upset and it’s understandable.”

While on the scene of water-issue calls, Simmonds said they try to remove a large portion of the water with squeegees and vacuums on their vehicles, stabilize the water system, assist with salvaging residents’ belongings and more.

A pair of Mercer Island open houses were on tap in January for residents to meet with the chief, firefighters and city staff to learn about the Island’s Jan. 1 transition to a regional fire services model with EF&R.

EF&R covers a vast amount of terrain from the Eastside to the King-Snohomish county border in Woodinville, to the top of the Snoqualmie Pass, down to the May Valley area and onto Mercer Island. For more information, visit https://www.eastsidefire-rescue.org/