Information for the Public

In the afternoon on Saturday July 24th, our Fire District responded to a report of a brush fire on the north side of Lewis River Road in the Yale Valley. Read the full story of what happened, and see some pictures of it by clicking "About Us' in the "go to more" pull down menu in the Navigation section above right.
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Fire Sprinklers Save Lives! Follow this link for more information: http://www.homefiresprinkler.org/
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Now that summer is finally here, a lot of you will be grilling outdoors again. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has posted some grilling safety information. You can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=298&URL=Safety%20Informa...
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The Burning Ban is now in effect in both Skamania and Cowlitz County. Since the restrictions for each county are slightly different, they are listed separately below.

Cowlitz County:
All burning allowed under the self-issue permits will not be allowed until October 1, 2010. Only recreational fires in approved fire pits 3'x3'x2' will be allowed on private property by the land owner. Campfires are allowed only in approved campgrounds with approved fire pits.

Skamania County:
All burning allowed under the self-issue permits will not be allowed until October 1, 2010.  Only recreational fires in approved fire pits 4'x4'x3' will be allowed on private property by the land owner. Campfires are allowed only in  approved campgrounds with approved fire pits.

For more information on the burn ban, click on the link provided under Navigation in the upper left corner of this page.
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 All of our Fire District in Cowlitz County has changed to a Protection Class 8.  For more information, read below. Contact your Homeowners Insurance agent about the change. The Skamania County residences in our district are more than 5 miles away from a Fire Station so their rating will remain at a 9.
Since our Fire District was formed in 1977, our Fire Protection Rating has been a 9 out of 10. Ten is the rating given to property that has no fire protection at all. Recently, the Washington State Surveying and Rating Bureau (WSRB), re-assessed our district. They determined that most of our district’s fire protection rating could be dropped to an 8. A rating drop from a 9 to an 8 will give most individuals around a 25% reduction in their homeowners insurance premiums.
We were told by the WSRB that all our district with the exception of the Cougar area would be re-rated at an 8. Cougar, and the area around it, would remain a 9. After discussing the details with the WSRB, Chief Stuart and the Board of Commissioners for the fire district decided to add a longer truck bay to the station in Cougar. This addition would have allowed the Cougar area to drop the rating to an 8 when the bay was completed. Chief Stuart decided that until the bay was completed, the fire district would swap the Tender from Station #2 in Cougar with the rated Engine in Station #4 by Cresap Bay. This move will allow the Cougar area to drop to an 8 along with the rest of the district.
Construction on the Cougar station will hopefully start in July.

Driving Safety Tips

Washington State Department of Transportation – News
SR 503 traffic impacts near Lake Merwin begin Monday, June 14
Paving and safety work may cause delays of up to 20 minutes on the highway

The latest information from DOT indicates that grinding and paving won't
begin until after August 2, 2010.

Guardrail work began last week and will last one or two more weeks.

 WSDOT keeps people, businesses and the economy moving by operating and improving the state's transportation systems. To learn more about what we're doing, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/news for pictures, videos, news and blogs. Real time traffic information is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic or by dialing 5-1-1.