A bigger, better, faster and stronger fire district. That is what the fire chiefs of two local fire districts say a proposed merger would bring to their communities.
On the Aug. 6 primary ballot is a proposal to merge District 8 in Lake Stevens into Snohomish County District 7, which serves more than 116,000 people from Mill Creek to Monroe and beyond. Only voters in the Lake Stevens Fire District will have a vote, since their district would be merging into District 7.
“What this does is it takes two outstanding teams, two great teams that provide fire and life safety services and brings them in together into one stronger team,” Lake Stevens Fire Chief Kevin O’Brien said. “What this means is improved service to all of our citizens.”
The district would use 11 stations with a combined 234 responders. They’d serve 162,000 residents across 140 square miles. Officials estimate that would amount to 17,670 alarms each year.