Busy holiday weekend for South End firefighters

Fire District 3 firefighters were busy during the Labor Day weekend.

From Saturday morning to Monday evening, emergency responders went out on 21 calls, including 17 medical emergencies, an incident where cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was needed and a brush fire near Sunlight Lagoon.

"It was busy," said Fire District 3 Deputy Chief Jon Beck.

Early Sunday morning, after midnight, a mid-40s customer at China City in Freeland required CPR. Lucky for the patron, the bartender was also an EMT with the fire district and resuscitated the man before he was taken to Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville.

"It definitely saved the individual's life," Beck said.

Beck said the patient was able to speak after arriving at the hospital.

Later that morning, crews from three units put out a 400-square-foot brush fire off Kohlwes Road near Sunlight Lagoon. The firefighters worked more than 90 minutes to douse the driftwood fire.

"Someone lit a fire the night before and left it burning," Beck said.

South Whidbey firefighters also responded to an illegal burn in Langley that was out when they arrived.

Beck said Langley Police Chief Randy Heston instructed the residents who had a fire to put it out prior to the arrival of firefighters because it violated the burn ban in place.

Things have not settled down after the holiday weekend, however.

Early Tuesday, a driver in a 1970s-model pickup crashed into a tree off Highway 525 and Coles Road.

Responders found the truck unoccupied and police found the driver on Coles Road near Sixth Street in Langley at 1 a.m. The driver appeared to be OK and declined medical care.

Beck said the truck looked like a total loss.

Contact South Whidbey Record Sports, South Whidbey School District, South Whidbey Fire/EMS Ben Watanabe at bwatanabe@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-221-5300.

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