3 fire stations in West Thurston County are set to close after voters reject levies

Ty Vinson
·2 min read

Residents served by the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority rejected tax levies that support maintenance and operations that were on the Nov. 8 ballot, leaving the district no choice but to limit services and lay off workers.

According to a Nov. 23 letter from interim fire chief Rob Smith, the department ran two tax levies to support Fire Districts 1 and 11. Both needed supermajorities of 60% approval to pass. The Rochester levy got close, with 59.3% approval; the Littlerock levy received just 51.5% approval.

“Unfortunately, moving into 2023 there will be a severe funding shortfall, not only affecting each station and staff, but our community members individually,” Smith said in the letter.

The failure means three stations will be close their doors Thursday, Dec. 1. They are the Albany Street station in Rochester, the Maytown station and the Scott Lake station.

The two other stations, Sargent Road and Littlerock Road, will remain open as staffing permits.

As a result of the ballot failures, Smith said response times will be longer, employees will be laid off, and low priority calls won’t get a response. On top of that, fire insurance premiums are expected to increase by the end of 2023, meaning residents may end up paying more in the long run for tax levy failures.

In an interview with KING5 News, Smith said more than half of the agency’s firefighters will be laid off. The RFA serves a 158-square-mile zone that stretches from Tumwater city limits to the Lewis County line. They typically answer about 3,400 calls a year and serve about 30,000 people.

The levy proposals entailed bringing the property tax up from 97 cents per $100,000 assessed property value to $1.71. That number would go down every year by about 8 cents, according to the RFA’s website.

Smith said he’s looking at what the department can offer within the limits they now have, and all personnel and equipment from closing stations will be moved to those staying open, as space and funding allows.

Voters in Thurston County denied the extension of the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority at the beginning of this month, leaving the district no choice but to limit services and lay people off from work. 
Voters in Thurston County denied the extension of the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority at the beginning of this month, leaving the district no choice but to limit services and lay people off from work.