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Scott Bartok: Salish Star captain

CDN's weekly community profile

By Annie Todd Criminal Justice/Enterprise Reporter

Scott Bartok (he/him)

Age: 55

City: Bellingham

Lived here for: 55 years

Originally from: Bellingham

Notable: Captain of the Salish Star, the Bellingham Fire Department boat, for three years. Served in BFD boat program for 18 years, including on the Fire Belle. Proud of his ability to get along with people.

How did you get started with the BFD boat program?

I started out in the Boy Scout world like a lot of people. Then I found out that there was a Sea Scout program. I went through that and got into the water aspect, and I really loved the marine feel of it. When I got into Bellingham Fire, I knew that they had a Marine Program and that was something I wanted to do.

What does the training for the Marine Program look like?

First of all, you go through our program and you become a firefighter. That was my first year. Then when you’re accepted into the boat program, or the Marine Division, you have a task book training that you have to go through. It sets out where you’re actually a deckhand at first and then you work your way through the training. You become a pilot as well. It takes roughly about six months to a year.

How frequently is the fire boat used?

I was just looking at our call volume and in 2024, we had 30 missions. That could be a fire, could be a watercraft in distress or somebody in the water. We also do joint agency training with the Coast Guard. Right now (as of mid-January), we’re in the middle of doing this week of helio-ops (helicopter operations) with them. That’s where if we went out to one of the islands and picked up somebody that was critically injured, we would have the helio fly them from our boat to the hospital.

What makes this job unique?

We’re in a turnover for our program where we’ve had people that are promoting out of the program, so we’re getting newer people in. The unique thing about it is the training aspect and getting to watch the individuals come in, be green and advance all the way to the pilot where they are very comfortable with operating the boat.

It’s interesting watching somebody sit at the pilot’s seat for the first time and that scared look on their face of, ‘I’m operating this thing and I’m not really sure.’ Then they hit that mark of everything getting into place and it just gels with them. They look really comfortable, so it’s a joyful thing to teach.

For putting out fires, you use salt water from Bellingham Bay?

Yep, the Salish Star pumps 2,000 gallons per minute for the front monitor. I like to tell people that if the water mains go down in the city because of a major earthquake, we become the basic hydrant for all the fire engines. That’s the reason we had the first original Fire Belle because when San Francisco had their big earthquake and there were all those fires, it destroyed all the water lines so the fire department couldn’t put fires out.

I like to tell everybody that we will never run out of water so long as the bay stays full or I never run out of fuel in the boat.


“Faces in the Crowd” is published online and in print Fridays. Have a suggestion for a “Faces in the Crowd” subject? Email us at newstips@cascadiadaily.com.

Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.

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