Two more Snohomish County fire districts are talking about merging.
They are District 8 in Lake Stevens and District 7, which is based in Monroe and also serves Clearview, Maltby and much of unincorporated Snohomish south of the Snohomish River.
Together, the two agencies could provide fire protection and emergency medical services to about 160,000 people over 141 square miles. That’s roughly one in five residents in the county.
Their 2019 budgets would total more than $54 million.
The details are preliminary, but a ballot measure could be possible in 2020, Lake Stevens Fire Chief Kevin O’Brien said. The leading option at this point is for District 7 to absorb Lake Stevens, he said.
“It looks like a good fit,” he said.