Marysville's exploding population stretches emergency responders to breaking point

MARYSVILLE, Wash. - Marysville doubled in size between 2006-2016, jumping from 32,000 people to 65,000.

That kind of increase affects everything from housing and traffic to infrastructure. It also puts a strain on those who are sworn to serve and protect.

Back in 2009, the Marysville fire department responded to 10,000 calls. Last year they responded to more than 15,000 – a 47 percent increase, that’s seen average daily calls jump from 29 to 42, even as the number of firefighters on duty has remained the same.

“We are currently spending out of our reserve just to keep up with the amount of calls that we run and sustain a good service,” said battalion chief Aaron Soper.

“We are so lean there is nothing that can be cut out. We rely every day on mutual aid - mutual aid is when other departments come in and help us run our calls. Mutual aid was never intended for everyday events. It was a big event where you are overwhelmed and can’t provide the service.”

The question, of course, is how to pay for it. The city says something could be on a ballot by the end of the year.

“We will always do the best we can with what we have,” Soper said. “Of course we would like more funding and more manpower to protect our citizens.”

A governing board to address funding has been formed, consisting of four Marysville repsentatives from the city council and one from the fire district.

Q13 News went on a ride-along with Marysville police Sgt. Pete Shove. Marysville PD responds to about 70,000 calls a year.

"We had probably our biggest jump overnight seemingly with an annexation of the north, center part of the city," Shove said. "We jumped by 20,000-30,000 people seemingly overnight.

"The more people come in, the more businesses come in, the more businesses come in, the more people come in off the freeway to patronize those businesses and or do naughty things at those businesses, so a lot of new faces, a lot of turnover.”

Shove says keeping up with one of the fastest growing cities in the country requires flexibility and creativity.

"Our mission can change weekly," he said. "We sort of pride ourselves on being able to roll with the punches and to do some targeted enforcement if we see a problem in a specific area or in a specific type of issue. And our command staff has been really good about targeting those issues and getting to them before they get out of control.”

A new task force and targeted policing are currently being utilized to tackle the biggest issues plaguing the city: homelesness and drugs.

Marysville PD is hiring, looking to fill four new positions budgeted for 2018.