The Chehalis City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a cooperative interlocal agreement (ILA) committee with Lewis County Fire Districts 5 and 6 and the City of Chehalis Fire Department.
While the ILA to potentially consolidate the agencies and their operations has not been formally agreed upon, this resolution establishes a committee that will be tasked with developing draft ILA terms for reviewing and approval by the respective governing bodies.
Chehalis Fire Chief Adam Fulbright, Lewis County Fire District 5 Chief Jon Beck and Lewis County Fire District 6 Chief Jerry Cole presented an update on the consolidation to the Chehalis City Council, explaining the benefits and next steps in the process. The move comes as the city is moving further into the negotiation process with Lewis County of annexing its urban growth area (UGA). The UGA includes areas south of Chehalis on both sides of Jackson Highway stretching down to the Newaukum community and to Napavine, Lewis County Fire District 6 in Chehalis, and neighbors Lewis County Fire District 5 in Napavine.
The chiefs clarified that the approach is not a merger; rather, it falls under what they call “agency cooperative planning.” Each department would retain its assets, chiefs and elected officials, and there is no loss of budget control or surrender of authority with the proposed consolidation, the chiefs said. Chiefs would form an executive leadership team for joint decision-making and will work with unions to address labor concerns and challenges.
The ILA committee is composed of the three fire chiefs, one elected official from each organization, and one union member from each fire department. There is no confirmed duration of the ILA, as that is one of the first determinations the committee must make now that it is established, along with command structure, operations planning, and a long-term and sustainable fire and EMS model.
The final ILA is scheduled to be sent for attorney review Nov. 3, with final votes from the voting bodies, including the city council, in December. The ILA would take effect Jan. 1, 2026, if approved.
Agency leaders asked the council to consider cooperative planning as there are rising demands on fire and EMS services and increasing call volume and complexity. Chiefs also said the move would eliminate duplication of resources across departments.
More stations and personnel working as one system would improve response times, Fulbright said, and the consolidation would expand coverage, with agencies sharing resources to reduce gaps in rural and urban areas. He said citizens could expect the same high-quality response no matter where they live.
“This gives us the ability to move staff around. When one station has a hole, we can move staff between our shared resources,” Fulbright said. “When the community calls 911, they get the closest unit. Sometimes, depending on where the station is, we may be driving through each other’s jurisdictions to get to the farthest reach of our response area. That will certainly allow us to strategically redraft lines and pursue areas for certain stations so we get a faster response.”
Lewis County Fire District 6 stations are located at 2123 Jackson Highway in Chehalis (Station 61), 268 Dieckman Road in the Adna area (Station 62), 736 Logan Hill Road in Chehalis (Station 63), and 114 Galaxie Road in the Newaukum Hill area (Station 64).
Lewis County Fire District 5 stations are located at 105 Second Ave. SE in Napavine (Station 5-1) and 3300 Jackson Highway (Station 5-2), and 4185 Jackson Highway (Station 5-3).
The chiefs listed a handful of operational benefits that would come from the approval of consolidating the agencies, including unified command and training, more efficient staffing, improved coverage with handling multiple calls, better use of equipment, and specialized teams. More apparatus and personnel would be available to cover multiple incidents at once, and the consolidation would reduce dependence on mutual aid, meaning resources would arrive sooner.
“It’s just Murphy’s Law. Every time you get one big call going on, it’s almost a sure thing you get another incident at the same time,” Beck said. “When we first presented this to the joint boards, that afternoon my agency had a large grass fire in the neighborhood, and we got dispatched to another ALS medical call. Those types of incidents are happening more and more frequently throughout all three of our organizations, and this allows us to absorb those additional calls much easier.”
Cole said the joint operations would lead to stronger recruitment and retention.
“The two districts and the city, we can all attest that we’re losing people. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,” Cole said. “What we’re hoping is under the ILA and trying it for a few years, and maybe working toward the full consolidation, we’ll be that other side of the fence where people are going to want to come to.
Fulbright said the consolidation would include a transition to full-time EMS transport services for District 6 and Chehalis Fire, as District 5 is already transporting 100% of its patients. The transition would provide an additional revenue stream and faster hospital transport for critical patients. Agencies would also work together to provide cover units during EMS transports for all departments.
If they choose, agencies would have the ability to provide community paramedicine programs that other agencies have implemented around the state, including Riverside Fire Authority. This would include staffing a paramedic and using a command-type vehicle to conduct follow-up care, fall prevention and chronic care support.
“It’s a really popular program. It’s got a great success rate across the state,” Beck said of the community paramedicine program concept.
Agencies are in favor of having one medical services officer (MSO) that would oversee the entire EMS program for all three agencies. Currently, each agency is required to have a single MSO but would be allowed to staff just one across the departments, Beck said.
Cole explained a number of deal breakers that agencies would often endure when coming to an agreement on such an ILA as the one the agencies are working toward. These include turf, politics and power, fear of loss of control, money, and timing when it comes to response. But each of the three chiefs acknowledged that conversations have been fruitful and collaborative, and that none of these potential hindrances have come up.
Cole said before he started working in the area, he always thought there were only two fire departments — Riverside and Chehalis. But once he learned about the fire districts spread out in Lewis County, he learned that something needed to change to make operations more efficient for all departments.
“In order for me to respond to a call over in this area, I actually have to drive through District 5’s area to get to that call. I’m thinking, ‘This makes no sense,’” Cole said. “‘Why am I driving through their fire district to go to a call there?’ Just the other day, we had a call just over here, and I had to drive all the way through the city of Chehalis to get to that call. As I’m driving, I’m thinking, ‘We’ve gotta fix this. It makes no sense to the public that we serve to do that.’”
Cole described the proposal as a relationship. He said the ILA is equivalent to dating, and consolidation or a merger would be related to getting married.
“The ILA period, or the dating period, could be a couple years. It could be five years. It’s really up in the air,” he said. “But the final operations plan is going to be developed collaboratively by the three chiefs, and it’s going to be built on the lessons learned in the ILA period. Options may include full consolidation into one department. It could be a permanent joint operations model, or it could be continued independent departments with enhanced coordination.”
The chiefs told the council that the burden of proof is on the chiefs, or the elected officials.
They said that if the move fails, nothing will change, as all agencies keep and retain authority and their departments. They asked the council to give them a chance to prove the concept will work with no cost, no risk or no loss of authority.
“I just urge you to vote yes on this. What you’re doing tonight is appointing somebody to this ILA committee. This ILA document still has to come back to you, and we really do think that we’ll be able to write a successful document that everybody will be happy with,” Cole said. “I’m not kidding when I say that you’re sitting on the edge of greatness with our fire departments here. They’re going to look back one of these days and say, ‘Boy, those people were geniuses.’ But seriously, a vote to move forward tonight would be really appreciated, and you won’t be disappointed.”
