Welcome to Spokane County Fire District 8
Spokane County Fire District 8 provides a full range of services that include fire suppression, emergency medical services, fire prevention, education and investigation, and associated support and maintenance services to our 22,397 citizens in a 110 square mile area in south Spokane County.
SCFD8 members responded to 3,614 calls for service in 2020 from the District's four fire stations located in the Moran, Valleyford, Ponderosa, and Saltese areas. Each station is staffed twenty-four hours a day with a combination of career, part-time, volunteer and resident volunteer personnel.
Spokane County Fire District 8 operates under the State of Washington laws and codes governing fire departments by direction of a three-person Board of Fire Commissioners: Andy Rorie; Lee Boling, and Greg Hesse.
Proposition 1 - Fire Levy Lid Lift Request Informational Meetings
Please join us on Tuesday, June 22nd, 6:00 pm, via Zoom, or Thursday, July 15th, 6:00 pm at Station 81 and Zoom, to learn what our Levy Lid Lift request means for you.
Fire Chief Lonnie Rash and the Board of Fire Commissioners will be available to answer your questions and provide information on Proposition No. 1, our Fire Levy Lid Lift request. For details on these meetings see this Informational Meetings flyer. We hope you will also find this Frequently Asked Questions sheet helpful.
Proposition No. 1 Levy Lid Lift Informational Video
Proposition No. 1 Levy Lid Lift Primary Ballot Language
Fire Levy Lid Lift Request
The Board of Fire Commissioners for Spokane County Fire Protection District No.8 voted unanimously to place a multi-year Fire Levy lid lift on the August Primary Election ballot. If approved by voters, a “lid lift” allows the fire district to restore the levy rate for emergency services to $1.50 per $1000 of assessed valuation for collection in 2022 and allows for the five succeeding years to authorize one percent or the percentage allowed by the consumer price index increase reported each June, whichever is greater.
The Fire Levy lid lift is necessary for Spokane County Fire District 8 to continue essential levels of service. Funding from the lid lift would be used to maintain daily operations and improve emergency service levels, improve firefighter training, and repair equipment and apparatus and well as replace aging structural and wildland fire trucks and required firefighter safety equipment. These items also are necessary to maintain the community’s insurance rating, which affects the premiums paid by home and business owners.
RCW 84.55 limits the District to a 1% revenue increase per year. Due to the 1% limit, most taxpayers are paying less to the fire levy each year as property values increase. The amount collected by the District is not keeping up with the cost of inflation.
If approved by voters, the lid lift would restore the Fire Levy to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The proposal would be on the August 3rd Primary Election ballot and cost approximately 36 cents per $1,000 (or approximately $9.00 per month for the owner of a $300,000 home).
The levy rate has fallen to $1.14/$1,000 in 2021. Spokane County Fire District 8 is primarily funded through fire levy taxes. Each year the fire district is limited to roughly the same amount of revenue due to the limitations of RCW 84.55.
2021 Spring/Summer Fire 8 Flyer
As we welcome warmer weather we are also very aware that in our area wildfire season has already arrived. In the 2021 Spring/Summer newsletter you will find information on wildfire and the steps you can take to help reduce risk to your home and property.
I hope you’ve had an opportunity to visit with our Fire Chief, Lonnie Rash. If you have suggestions for Chief Rash on how we can better serve our community, or questions regarding the August Levy Lid Lift, please contact him by email at lrash@scfd8.org ,or by phone at 509-370-9801.
Enjoy summer and Stay Safe!
Burn Ban in Place
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has issued a ban on all Rule and Permit burns in our area. Campfires are allowed in approved, designated campgrounds only. Most fires aren caused by people conducting debris burns and failing to completely extinguish their piles, or not monitoring them appropriately with a water source available and ready to douse flames that grow large or escape the burn area.
Warming temperatures have dried grasses, and grassy areas are now experiencing numerous wildfires started by outdoor debris burns. In the Northeast region, 100 wildfires have been started in 2021, including 46 since April 1. Of those 100 wildfires, 62 have been caused by people burning debris outdoors and failing to completely extinguish them. These escaped burns have burned over 217 acres this year.
Daily updates on burn restrictions and Industrial Fire Precaution Levels are available at 1-800-323-BURN or on the Fire Danger and Outdoor Burning risk map at https://fortress.wa.gov/dnr/protection/firedanger/ and Industrial Fire Precaution Levels map https://fortress.wa.gov/dnr/protection/ifpl/.
