The following letter was sent to Gov. Chris Gregoire from King County Fire District 44 Fire Chief Gregory Smith.

Dear Gov. Gregoire,

Flaming Geyser State Park is a 480 acre multipurpose park with more than three miles of freshwater shoreline on the Green River. The park is located just 11 miles from the city of Auburn and Highway 18. With an average of over 3,000 visitors per day during the summer, this park is among the most popular and utilized parks in the state. The park and surrounding area including all of Green Valley Road are served and protected by King County Fire District 44 (Mountain View Fire and Rescue).

The park is a very popular location for persons who access the Green River and float the river. The fire district responds to the park and river on a regular basis during the summer when the weather turns hot. In 2010, on one day alone, the district rescued eight individual persons on the river. It is not unusual for the first drowning of the year in King County to occur in the river at or near the park.

The fire district has worked closely with park staff to make the park a safe place, alcohol was prohibited in the park and the number and severity of injuries and drownings significantly decreased.

It has come to our attention that this park is under threat of closing and mothballing. The gates locked, staffing removed and essentially all but abandoned with no park staff to enforce rules or oversee activities that take place in the park. There will be nothing to keep people from accessing the park on foot and doing anything they want in the abandoned park. The park will not be visible from the main road and impossible for police to patrol.

The existing buildings will be susceptible to vandalism and most likely suffer from arson. Injuries and deaths will become more common due to the mixture of alcohol and activities in the river. Gang activity as seen at Lake Sammamish will occur and assaults will become common place. All of this will tax the fire district and the King County Sheriff’s deputies who suffer already from the same budget woes as the state.

The mothballing of this park facility will cause hardship to the people who live on Green Valley Road, strain fire department and sheriff resources and create a dangerous and unsafe location and condition. Nicholas Spies, 13 and Heidi Munson, 19, died in a car operated by a driver who had been drinking in the park. When the park is closed, drinking in the park will become common place.

The Board of King County Fire Protection District 44 encourages the state to continue to staff this popular park and assist us in keeping it a safe place for families, children and teens to enjoy.

Gregory Smith

Fire chief

King County Fire District 44