CAMAS — The Camas City Council voted unanimously Monday to place a regional fire authority proposal on the April 22 ballot.
Creating a Camas-Washougal regional fire authority would relieve financial pressure on both cities’ general funds and, according to Camas-Washougal Fire Department Chief Cliff Free, enhance local fire and emergency medical services.
During a Nov. 6 joint session of the Camas and Washougal city councils, Free said that, if voters approve the formation of the fire authority, he would be able to staff three-person fire engines in 2027, and there would be no out-of-pocket ambulance costs for residents.
“(The ambulance charges) still go through billing services,” Free said, “but if you are a resident contributing to the tax base, there will be no out-of-pocket costs.”
Free told city officials that having a three-person engine is a fire safety issue.
“If a two-person engine rolls up to a fire and a person is in that structure, we are not permitted to rescue them,” he said.
The fire authority would replace the inter-local governmental agreement that has governed the joint Camas-Washougal Fire Department since 2012.
The planning committee has recommended that the initial levy rate be set at $1.05 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Former Camas City Councilman Greg Anderson, who sat on the fire department’s joint committee for many years, told Camas and Washougal city councilors that he believed the planning that has gone into the creation of the fire authority plan “has been a very good process.”
“The financial piece was very comprehensive and very complex,” Washougal City Councilwoman Molly Coston said during the joint meeting. “It was an essential piece of the plan to make sure (the RFA would be) solvent from day one.”
