Clark County voters to consider Fire District 3 levy lid lift proposal to fund additional firefighters

BRUSH PRAIRIE, Wash. — Clark County Fire District 3 is asking voters to help fund more firefighters and the equipment they say they need to keep the community safe.

Voters will decide during the Aug. 1 election whether to approve a levy lid lift.

If approved, it would help pay for more firefighters to respond to the growing demand for service. The eastern side of Clark County has grown by 26% within the last 10 years and it's driving up emergency call volumes.

At the start of every day, firefighters in the district do a rig check to make sure everything is ready to go.

“On this rig today we’re staffed with a captain firefighter, a firefighter apparatus operator, and then a volunteer," said firefighter Andrew Wolf.

Wolf started with Fire Dist. 3 as an intern in 2006 and became a full-time career firefighter in 2013.

He said usually you'll only see two people on each engine, but if a levy lid lift passes by Clark County voters next month, Fire District 3 will be able to fund three-person engines.

“I've said it before, you know, two people are great, but if you had a third, it's like--it's almost like four. It's almost doubling, just having that third person. So it's definitely a ton of help," Wolf said.

The levy would provide funding for six additional firefighters a year over the course of six years.

Fire Chief Scott Sorenson told KATU the increase would be 29 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. That's about $12 a month or $145 per year for the owner of a $500,000 home.

Fire District 3 is asking voters to consider a change to the levy from $1.21 to $1.50 per $1,000.

The lid lift would also fund:

• Renovation of Station 34 in the Rawson Road/Elkhorn/Summer Hill area to provide full-time 24-hour staffing to allow for quicker response times
• Replacement of a fire engine, ambulance, and other smaller equipment that have reached the end of their useful lives
• Technical training (swift water, high angles, and ropes) to decrease the reliance on outside agency help and improve efficiency districtwide

“The aim of this levy is to improve services by increasing our staffing levels. Currently, we run a minimum of two-person companies, and we'd like to increase to three for both the safety of the community and our staff firefighters," Sorenson said.

The current staffing levels don't provide the number of firefighters needed to effectively meet state mandates, Sorenson said. Washington state code requires four firefighters on the scene of interior structural fire operations. Currently, the district's two-person engine companies require another engine to be on the scene before interior fire operations or rescues can happen.

“With two people it's not safe for us to go inside," Wolf said.

Call volumes have increased in the last 10 years as Eastern Clark County has grown by 26 percent. Without the funding, the fire district will have to look at other options.

“It’s very unlikely we would be able to maintain the service level we have currently," Sorenson said.

Ballots started arriving in mailboxes Friday. Ballots must be postmarked by August 1, 2023, or placed in a ballot box by 8 p.m. on Election Day to count.