Clark County Fire and Rescue changing name to Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue

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Clark County Fire and Rescue is changing its name to Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue to better reflect the area it serves. 

In August, the City of Woodland annexed into the fire district. While Clark County Fire and Rescue has been serving Woodland since 2013 through a contract, the annexation makes Woodland a permanent part of the fire district. Clark County Fire and Rescue has also provided service to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe through a contract made in 2015. 

“With the recent annexation of the City of Woodland into the fire district and our partnership with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe to protect their reservation, it makes good sense to add Cowlitz into our name,” Fire Chief John Nohr said in a news release. 

Clark County Fire and Rescue was established in 2008 when two fire districts, Clark County Fire District 11 and 12, merged into one large fire district. The district served the cities of Battle Ground, La Center and Ridgefield. Over the years, several other fire districts have annexed into Clark County Fire and Rescue and its predecessor departments. The district now encompasses over 125 square miles in northwest Clark County and southwest Cowlitz County. 



According to the news release, annexations and mergers are becoming more common throughout the country as residents look to get more for their emergency services dollars. There have been over 20 fire district mergers and annexations in Washington since 2017. 

“People recognize that modern technology allows our fire departments to be better managed with fewer administrators. We don’t need the redundancy of several small fire districts or city fire departments, each with their own fire chief, assistant chiefs, and management staff. Mergers and annexations reduce overhead costs and allow precious emergency services dollars to be spent putting firefighters/paramedics on fire engines so we can provide a better service to our citizens,” Nohr said.