Chiefs and commissioners for two Clark County fire districts are currently looking at how to better serve a growing area of the county, with a joint public safety facility near the Clark County Fairgrounds at the center of the discussion.
Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue and Clark County Fire District 6 are taking a look this year at improvements to fire service in the area around Station 151 at 505 NW 179th St. south of the city limits of Ridgefield. Initially envisioned as a joint operations center for the two districts, Station 151 currently serves as a precinct of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the office of the Clark County Fire Marshal.
The station, completed in 2001 following the passage of a $3 million bond measure two years prior, was conceptualized by Clark County Fire Districts 6, 11 and 12 given the growing population of the area. Fire District 11 and 12 merged in 2008 to create the district currently called Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue.
The station was staffed by the volunteer firefighter program of Fire District 6 up until the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns focused on how the pandemic would affect the program, shifting participants from suppression to support positions, FD6 Chief Kristan Maurer said. Both districts previously stored an apparatus each at the station, though FD6 has surplused theirs and CCFR is using theirs as part of a fire academy.
Even when suppression volunteer firefighters were used, Maurer said the station was only staffed at about 20 percent.
When volunteer units staffed the station it would respond to calls if it was the closest unit in either district, CCFR Chief John Nohr said. Without staff at the 151 station, in some instances FD6 will respond to areas in CCFR’s jurisdiction for high-priority calls as their Salmon Creek station is closer than CCFR’s Ridgefield one.
“It’s happening more and more often, and it’s not fair to Fire District 6 for CCFR to be impacting their citizens, utilizing their fire engine responding in the area,” Nohr said.
Both districts’ boards of commissioners held a joint meeting in July to discuss how to address the impacts of growth in the area and ways to move forward. Another meeting is planned in November. Nohr said the boards will look at their options, but may not make a decision at that time.
Potential solutions include allowing CCFR water tenders to respond in areas of FD6 that do not have hydrants, which Nohr said would benefit insurance rates in those places. He also said fees for service due to an imbalance in service could be considered, and/or ways to staff the station in an equitable way for both districts.
“We’re both looking for ways to make sure we’re serving the citizens we represent service-wise, but the best way financially, also,” Nohr said.
Any decisions on procedure changes will go before a specific board for Station 151 made up of the district’s chiefs and a commissioner from their respective districts to make decisions. One of those decisions would be revisiting the “dated” contract for the facility on its equity, Maurer said.
Maurer noted the sheriff’s office now has a greater presence at Station 151 than it did initially because the office moved its operations, which were previously located at its central precinct on Northeast 149th Street when that facility closed in 2017. A return of the fire district’s joint operations could potentially impact the sheriff’s office’s needs, though she said the property the station sits on also has room for expansion.
“In general, there’s a need for a fire station in that area … and it’s not ideal for either of our departments with our current configuration to hit a certain part of that area,” Maurer said.
The joint station is under greater consideration given the increasing growth. Much of CCFR and all of FD6 are in unincorporated parts of the county, which can’t benefit from impact fees collected on new development, Nohr said, though the county could institute the fees to help with growth.
Station 151 likely won’t utilize volunteers when a decision is made on the staffing situation, Nohr explained, because the level of certification needed usually requires people who are looking to become career firefighters.
Nohr said he is “painfully aware” of the need that an operating Station 151 would address.
“I hear the calls come in and I want to make sure everyone in the district gets the best service possible,” Nohr said.
Maurer said it is refreshing to see frank discussions on service issues and Station 151 taking place.
“I’m really hopeful that the two departments will work together and we will provide the best service to those citizens in that area,” Maurer said. “We are making progress, it’s just slow. Public sector progress is slow.”
