About the Stevens County Fire District 1

Stevens County Fire Protection District No. 1 - Overview:

Stevens County Fire Protection District #1 is a combination fire department comprised of five career firefighters, one Fire Chief, two office staff and sixty active volunteer personnel. Operating from eight fire stations, the district serves an area of 375 square miles and eight separate communities in South Stevens County.  Our combined district population is approximately 12,000 residents. Stevens County Fire Protection District #1 responded to 1191 calls for service in 2009. 60% of the calls for service are emergency medical in nature. First responder services include a combination of intermediate and basic life support delivered by career and volunteer staff.

Stevens County Fire Protection District #1 (SCFPD#1) is the largest fire district in Stevens County. The area is largely urban interface with hundreds of identified at-risk homes. It also includes 50,000+ acres of private forestland for which we provide initial attack in the event of a wildland fire. The career staff works a forty hour work week, providing “on-duty” coverage Monday thru Friday from 8 am to 6pm. There are no staff “on duty” on weeknights, weekends or holidays. Response to emergencies during those time periods occurs by volunteer staff being paged at home (or work), driving to their assigned fire station and responding to the scene in the appropriate fire apparatus. On a graded scale of 1-10, the fire district improved its fire protection class rating in 2008 from an 8a to a 7 for those properties that are served with a standard water distribution system and live within five road miles of a fire station. The primary deficiencies to the overall rating continue to be inadequate available fire flow (lack of fire hydrants) and lack of on duty personnel. These ratings do impact fire insurance rates for commercial and residential properties.

SCFPD#1 recently adopted its 2010 budget in the amount of $1,656,905.00 75% of the fire district’s revenue comes from property taxes. Approximately 23% of the budget is funded by an “EMS” Levy. The remaining 2% includes miscellaneous revenue including grants and fees collected by the fire district. In August of 2009, the fire district successfully passed a property tax levy lid-lift. Effective in 2010, the fire district’s levy rate will increase 28 cents per $1000 of assessed valuation. This increased revenue will allow the district to restore a vacant firefighter position, hire a full-time fire mechanic and begin replacing critical firefighter safety equipment and fire apparatus.

Stevens County Fire Protection District No.1 is committed to providing the best possible fire, rescue and emergency medical service we can with the assets we have available. The fire district is served by a dedicated staff of career and volunteer personnel that often put service to their community ahead of their personal lives. If you have ever considered being a volunteer firefighter we would love to hear from you. The district has application packets available on the website.