About Fire District 8
Serving the Spring Valley Road area south of Newport, Washington.
DISTRICT
SUMMARY:
Pend Oreille County Fire District 8 was formed in 1992 as a result of "Fire Storm" to provide fire protection to the residents of the "Spring Valley" community. The Fire District encompasses the southeast corner of Pend Oreille County and extends from the Idaho/Washington State line west approximately seven miles and from the Spokane County line north approximately seven miles, with a diagonal line running northeast to southwest along a ridge line. Within these borders, Fire District 8 encompasses approximately 30 square miles. The population of the district is approximately 700 permanent residents. The major employers in the district are self-employed farms however the majority of the residents work outside of the district.
In early 2005, the District started providing emergency medical service to its residents, and is a state-licensed aid-only emergency medical provider for the Spring Valley area of Pend Oreille County. While the District is a junior taxing agency, this emergency medical service operates free-of-charge under the budget of the Fire District.
Fire District 8 staffing consists of one Chief, one Assistant Chief, 15 Firefighters, one Medical Officer and two Firefighter/EMTs. All personnel are volunteers, and all are firefighter-qualified; the EMTs are utilized in the firefighter rehabilitation area when not called upon to assist in fighting fires.
Fire District 8 facilities consist of: One unmanned, District-owned fire station housing two engines, a water tender and an attack (wild land engine), centrally located in the district at the southeast corner of Spring Valley and Tweedie Roads.
Fire District 8 is part of the countywide fire and countywide medical mutual aid agreements. The District assists the United States Forest Service and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources when able or called upon. The District provides structure protection as well as wild land protection to these agencies. The Fire District will provide EMS service to the USFS and DNR responsibility areas if called upon.
PRIORITY AREAS
Residential Growth:
The majority of the residential growth is expected to continue along both sides of Spring Valley Road. This area extends the length of the District, for approximately 16 miles. Several new homes have been built along this corridor in the District, with several in the planning stage at this time. The District has seen a number of new roads established off of Spring Valley Road, with new construction and more residences in the planning stage. Pend Oreille County's building code adoption and enforcement is expected to be a major influence is creating an area of code compliant structures.
All structures in Fire District 8 are in "wild land-urban interface" areas. Road signage is poor in some areas and visible 360 house numbering is non-existent in most areas. As the Fire District expands its volunteer EMT and Fire personnel, this is one of many major challenges. Fire District 8 is selling code-compliant address number signs in an attempt to remedy part of the problem.
Fire Fighting Vehicles:
Limited budget resources have resulted in the acquisition of firefighting vehicles that are showing their age. Fire District 8 has relied on the Federal Excess Property System to obtain most of its vehicles. It also has obtained some vehicles through donations from larger districts/departments within the state.
Water Supply:
Fire District 8 has installed two dry hydrants in the southwest portion of the district in a small private lake and a pond. The district had no pressurized hydrants or rivers within in its boundary.
Fire Station:
Fire District 8 owns one dedicated fire station (Station 81) that sits on land donated to the district at the southeast corner of Spring Valley Road and Tweedie Road. It has electrical power only. No natural gas serves the area. No domestic water connection exists. The size of the land would allow for a septic system, domestic water well, and expansion of the station to include an office and a restroom.
Education and Training:
We participate jointly with other county fire districts in fire safety education offered through the local schools. We participate with Newport High School's Fire Science course and with DNR by offering a host district for our junior firefighters while they complete their training. Students become firefighters in both structure and are "Red Carded" in wildland fire fighting.
Fire District 8 is a charter member and the Chief is a member of the countywide Pend Oreille Training Council. Our District continues to have and encourages its volunteers to participate in fire training programs as well as providing education to the public we serve.