While most of the island slept, firefighters jumped to action after an alert of a large fire in Friday Harbor April 7.

“Thank goodness it happened at night and no life was lost,” San Juan Fire and Rescue Chief Norvin Collins said, adding that even at 3:43 a.m., it only took the crew six minutes to arrive on scene.

A little over a week prior to that fateful morning, the crew was immersed in a joint training with Orcas and Lopez firefighters, involving a house on Guard Street. “That training was the reason we all worked well together, we were all talking the same language,” Collins said, adding that since he became chief, the three organizations held several similar events and have been working on synchronizing their teams for situations exactly like the April 7 fire.

“There is nothing like an actual fire to learn how to put one out,” Collins said. “You can watch videos and read the books, but until you actually experience it, the experience is way different.”

During the real-life event, the crew and the community pulled together in ways beyond Collins’s expectations.

“The community stepped up phenomenally to support firefighters and business owners,” he said. Stories of locals cheering the responders on, bringing food and water, assisting in any way they could have been photographed, videotaped and well documented.

Town and county employees also did everything they could to ensure public safety, working to quickly reroute traffic away from the burning buildings. Once the fire was extinguished, he added, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, the regional arson team, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives all collaborated in the investigation into the cause of the fire.

“We had 30 people from all over the county and an arson dog from L.A., all working together,” Collins said, adding that the collaborative efforts brought about a quick conclusion.

“It was arson,” Collins said, adding that lighter fluid had been detected on a deck behind the Crystal Seas Kayaking business where the fire originated.

Even with additional resources, it took well into the next day for the fire to be completely suppressed. “One [fire]engine I think was running for about 16 hours,” Collins said.

It took half a million gallons of water, according to Collins, to extinguish the flames. A biodegradable fire suppressing foam was also used, which saved them from using even more water.

“The foam is gentler than Dawn dish detergent,” Collins said. “It allows us to suppress the fire more efficiently and with less water.”

When asked if there would ever be a danger of running out of water attempting to extinguish a fire, Collins said no, thanks to the ocean. “It’s the very reason we have a marine boat. It can capture seawater,” he explained.

To prepare for multiple events, Fire and Rescue has resources stationed all over the island, from Roche Harbor to the Westside and other locations in between.

Moving forward, Collins is meeting with officials from the town, like administrator Denice Kulseth and town Fire Marshall Ryan Erickson, to discuss ways to prevent an event such as this from happening in the future, including updating safety codes. Collins also would like to work with property owners to do a walk-through not only to discuss what fire prevention efforts can be taken but for the fire crew as well.

“Not only will we know what we can do for prevention, but it also helps firefighters know where the hazards in the building are,” he said.