Dear Chief Marler:

On behalf of the citizens, council, and staff of the Town of Friday Harbor, I wanted to take a moment to thank you and the brave men and women that responded to the fire on the Port of Friday Harbor property this last Saturday.

While the loss of the Downrigger’s restaurant is a tragedy for the owners, employees and their customers, the prompt action of your crew contained the fire and saved valuable assets of the businesses located in the building that would otherwise have been lost.

As you know, the protection of our residents, businesses and tourists are Friday Harbor’s highest priority as a municipality.

The hard, exhausting work undertaken by your crews was exemplary and I am so happy to learn that there were no injuries on the ground. We feel just that much safer knowing that your organization is there to protect us regardless of the risk or emergency we face.

Please take the time to thank your professional staff and volunteers for their hard work; not just on this evening but throughout the year. We are proud of them and it was very gratifying to see their selfless efforts in the face of dangerous conditions.

Mayor Carrie Lacher