About 4,000 Benton County residents have almost no protection if a fire started in their home.
That’s what the Washington Survey and Ratings Bureau says about the people living within five miles of the Badger Canyon Road fire station.
The organization that tells insurance companies how prepared an area is for a fire gives the area a nine out of 10, with 1 being the best rating and 10 the worst.
The rest of the fire district has a rating of 5, which is in line with many of its neighboring districts.
The poor rating in that area is because the station is staffed only part time by volunteers, leaving it empty for hours at a time, said Scott LoParco, the chair of the district’s Approve Fire Proposition 2 campaign.
Benton County Fire District 1 wants to add living quarters and an apparatus bay with the help of a $3 million bond on the ballot in November.