Spokane County Fire District 4 firefighters are getting new equipment after the community voted to give them more money.
Several fires are burning across Washington and Idaho and crews are getting called all around the state, even smaller stations like Fire District 4. The station is mostly made up of volunteers and part-time firefighters so money is at a premium.
The levy that was passed takes 50 cents of each $1,000 in taxpayer money. It is expected to bring in about $1 million each year. That money will go to their Emergency Medical Services (EMS) which accounts for most of the calls they respond to.
"EMS is 75-plus percent of our call volume, of the responses we go on, and this levy is a way fire districts have to support that workload,” District 4 Chief Randy Johnson said. “In our rural setting time is of the essence and our ability to have this service located where we are important to the citizens."
The fire department saw a decrease in levy funds back in 2010 because of the recession. The levy was passed earlier in 2016.