Fire services in Thurston County are provided by 17 separate fire departments, of which three are municipal (part of city government), and the rest are fire districts. Fire districts are separate taxing entities, governed by a board of three or five elected commissioners, with the purpose of providing fire protection for that geographically designated area. All of the fire departments in Thurston County provide fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS) on the basic life support (BLS) level. There is a separate county agency in Thurston County called Medic-One, who provides advanced life support (ALS) functions and operates in coordination with each of the fire departments. Each of six ALS units is housed in a strategically located fire station. Thurston County has a centralized dispatch center with enhanced 9-1-1 service and computer aided dispatch capability. All alarms are transmitted to the fire departments over radio paging equipment.

All of the fire departments in Thurston County, with the exception of the City of Olympia, have volunteer firefighters. Most of the departments are either fully volunteer or have a mix of career and volunteer staffing. There are approximately 120 career and 430 volunteer firefighters in Thurston County.

Fire District 8 History

What now is known as Thurston County Fire Protection District 8 (also known by its more common name of South Bay Volunteer Fire Department), was formed by a group of neighbors in April of 1953. It started with a loaned pick-up truck (with a pressurized water tank in the back) parked in the firestation (a garage belonging to the South Bay Grange), and the neighbors responded to a grand total of 15 fire calls that year. Later, a new station was built on South Bay Road and a brand new pumper purchased for $3,500 (the District still owns this truck, and is housed in its new station).

Fire response continued to be the mainstay for the department for many years until 1973 when the Thurston County Medic One system came into existence. Quickly, EMS calls began to outnumber fire calls in volume.

A substation was built in 1965 on the Johnson Point Road (Station 8-2) and another built in 1979 on the Puget Beach Road (Station 8-3). The first resident firefighter (living in a mobile home behind a firestation) was added in 1984, and the first full-time employee was hired in 1985. In 1998, the District moved into its new headquarters station across the street of the old main station. In 1998, the District responded to over 500 calls for the first time, and in 2006 exceeded 600 calls.

Fire District 8 Demographics

Thurston County Fire Protection District 8 lies in the northern portion of the county covering an area of 23.1 square miles, generally on a point of $1,159,000 annual operating budget (labor costs for career & volunteer members, operating & maintenance costs, incident readiness & response costs). The current population of the District is listed at just over 7,700 with an average annual rate of growth (through 2025) of 1.9%. Demographics information on the District is summarized in Appendix 1a. The District features some high value waterfront properties, and only 18% of the homes in the District existed prior to 1960. Many small farms and other agricultural lands have been converted to low or mid density housing, with 53% of the total District housing being built since 1980. The median income for a household in the District is over $63 thousand, with 2.67 residents. Over 44% of the households have moved into the District since 1995. The median age of a District resident is 41 years. There is very little commercial and no industrial occupancy in the District. Of the significant occupancies, there are two salt-water marinas, a grange hall, an elementary school (spriklered), and a dozen or so small commercial concerns. Fire prevention inspections are conducted by the Thurston County Fire Marshal. There are three areas in the District that have fire hydrants, each of a different water system, with less than 10% of the District's assessed valuation covered. Firefighting water must be delivered by tender trucks for most exposures. The District currently has an Insurance Services Office fire rating of "8", with tender credits for all residential properties.

Fire District 8 Governance & Staffing

The District is administered by a Board of Fire Commissioners, elected for six-year terms on a staggered schedule (every two years). The Board appoints the Fire Chief (a full-time career position) who manages the day-to-day activities of the District. The Fire Chief appoints the staff of officers for the District, some of which are full-time career and some volunteer. Currently, there are three full-time career officers, one full-time career District Secretary, and thirty-five volunteer firefighters. Volunteers are organized into nine duty shifts each commanded by a Captain; each shift is on-call on a nine-day rotation. Ongoing training for all staff is coordinated by the District's training officer in coordination with the Thurston Fire & Rescue Training Consortium and Thurston County Medic-One. Training is provided every week for two-to three hours, on duty-shifts and during other special drill periods. Most of the District's staff has received Emergency Medical Technician or First Responder training. Firefighter training is based upon nationally recognized standards and curricula.

Current Fire District 8 Issues

Increasing response load and complexity of the type of calls presents a significant challenge to the District. In the EMS field, delivery of cardiac defibrillation treatment by first responders is in place. Fires, even in single family residences, can present new dangers with more and more synthetic and exotic fuel loads. Hazardous materials, from agricultural chemicals and household materials to a growing presence of meth-amphetamine labs, is an ever-present potential problem. To meet these demands and those imposed by regulatory agencies and recommended standards, the general level of training for firefighters has been increased significantly. Likewise, the ability of volunteer fire departments to retain qualified staff has correspondingly suffered due to the increasing demands for training and response participation as well competing distractions (e.g. family, job, and hobbies). It is because of these issues that the District has undertaken its first comprehensive strategic planning process.