Central Mason Fire announces leadership changes and a new local training facility; call volume falls after transport program ended

Assistant Chief Brandon Searls updated council on Central Mason Fire operations and personnel changes. He said the district’s total call volume decreased in 2025 in part because the department stopped performing facility transports the prior year. “We ended, we stopped doing that in 2024, and so, therefore, that’s why we even bounce about 1000 calls a year that we were doing,” he said.

Searls noted the range of incident types the district responds to — structure fires, vehicle fires, brush fires, EMS calls, hazardous‑materials and service calls — and summarized public‑education and station‑tour activities and CPR training. He also announced that Chief Jeff Snyder and Deputy Chief Greg Yates will retire next month after more than three decades of service, and that Searls will serve as interim chief.

The district is building a training facility near Highway 3 and Crabbenhof Road so crews can train locally instead of traveling to Olympia or Kitsap County for hands‑on exercises; the facility is intended to reduce travel time and cost and keep training nearby.

Searls provided staffing numbers (72 line staff district‑wide, about 50 volunteers) and noted the district’s service area spans roughly 183 square miles and covers advanced life support for large parts of Mason County. Councilors asked follow‑up questions about whether declines in call volume relate to expanded crisis responder programs; staff said that could be a contributing factor in some cases but that multiple explanations may apply.