The Clark County Fire District 5 Board of Fire Commissioners voted unanimously to ask voters to lift the department’s levy in the Aug. 2 primary election.
The agency is asking voters to increase its levy by 24 cents per $1,000 in property value, beginning next year, to hire three additional firefighters, including a paramedic, at Fire Station 11 in the Orchards-Sifton area. The department says the additional staffing would improve response times districtwide. The fire district would also use the funding to seismically retrofit stations.
The number of firefighters serving Vancouver hasn’t changed in 15 years, the department said, and crews have responded to over 20 percent more calls in the past three years. If the levy lift passes in August, it would mark the first voter-approved funding increase for the fire district.
