The Spokane Valley Fire Department isn’t losing a single firefighter with an exemption over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
It worked out accommodations for the 22 who had a medical or religious exemption approved. The biggest change is those who are unvaccinated and staying on the frontlines will be separated from the rest of the department. They will all be working from stations 1 and 10, where the battalion chiefs are. “They are going to oversee the testing portion daily, with those crews, so it made sense to do them at those locations, so the battalion chiefs weren’t driving around town, trying to find firefighters spaced out at all ten stations,” said Spokane Valley Fire Chief Bryan Collins. That’s not the only way the fire department plans on limiting the spread of COVID-19. The exempt firefighters will be tested daily and are required to wear an N95 mask at all times.