Gresham Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 1062 wants a four city fire district. (Courtesy photo: Gresham Fire)

As elected leaders in East Multnomah County continue to debate options, the solution for the best way to offer regional fire coverage is obvious to the men and women helming the stations.

Gresham Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 1062, the fire union, is calling for Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, and Wood Village to join and grow Fire District 10.

“We have been providing fire service for the four cities for 40-plus years, and we have been seeing the policymakers heading toward the wrong decision,” said Kevin Larson, president of the union. “They are putting politics ahead of public safety.”

The firefighters are enticed by a district because it would address the ongoing funding woes. Gresham Fire is struggling to maintain adequate service. Equipment is aging, and there aren’t enough personnel/fire stations to keep up with the ever-growing city. Particular trouble spots are located in the southern parts of the city, where hundreds of new homes are built annually, and in Wood Village to the north.

“We cannot maintain the rising costs,” Larson said. “With a district, it moves everything to a different tax base.”

The Fire Union has penned a pair of letters, one to Gresham leadership and the other to the three small cities. The focus has been on collaboration, stressing the importance of serving the entire region to ensure safety for all.

“These decisions directly affect both our ability to serve the public and the safety of those doing the work,” the Union wrote. “The future stability and safety of our communities depends on (our voice).”

Long-term funding

The heralded historic passage of the Gresham Safety Levy, which provided a financial boost, was intended only as a short-term solution.

The levy roadmap calls for conversations on a long-term funding answer to begin in year three. Firefighters say it should be happening now.

Fire districts are special-purpose government entities. Citizens within the service district fund it with property taxes, and a board of directors governs it. Districts operate as a separate group, pulled out from the realm of influence of any one city.

The district solution also aligns with the mindset of Gresham firefighters. They see themselves as part of Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village, and don’t want to stop serving/protecting those communities.

“We go to their schools, homes, meetings and events,” Larson said. “We are a part of the fabric of their cities, and we want to maintain that.”

In many ways, a new district encompassing all four cities would formalize the regional focus that already permeates throughout Gresham Fire.

However, issues remain that would need to be resolved. The main one is getting voters to agree to the plan. Even if all four councils gave the green light, the ultimate choice would happen on the ballots. If one city dissented, it could prove fatal to any burgeoning district.

Every second counts

There has been frustration from the fire union about being left out of the talks.

As the deadline looms — the current one-year extension between Gresham and the three cities ends by the end of June 2026 — firefighters have rarely been asked to the table, the union said.

“They are making decisions on operations without our perspective,” Larson said. “These conversations, with us, should have happened five years ago.”

That firefighter perspective provides insights that otherwise are difficult to understand. Take one of the options the three cities are mulling: joining Clackamas Fire District (Happy Valley, Johnson City, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Boring, Carver, Damascus).

While on paper that sounds ideal — the district is large, well-managed, and has a vast amount of resources and apparatus — there are problems, the Gresham union said.

Clackamas Fire is based far away from Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village. Some estimates suggest that any emergency response would take 20 minutes to arrive. While there would be firefighters based in the three cities, that wouldn’t be enough to cover structure fires.

National standards are that 15-17 firefighters are needed to safely and swiftly put out a structure blaze. In Gresham, fire stations are crewed by three firefighters. So even if each of the three cities built and staffed a fire station, that is only 9 available. They would have to wait for their colleagues in Clackamas County to help out.

“With fires, every second counts,” Larson said.

Clackamas Fire countered by saying ongoing mutual aid agreements with Gresham and Portland Fire would mitigate those response delays.

Joining Clackamas Fire also doesn’t solve the local control issue that the three cities are galvanized around. The city of Gresham has remained obstinate in allowing its neighboring municipalities a say in how the fire department is run, which has been a significant impetus for them seeking a new solution. But in joining Clackamas Fire, the local votes could wither in the face of the Clackamas majority. So any fire decisions would be centered in Happy Valley and Oregon City.

None of this is new. The conversations have been happening for years.

In 2020, things seemed to be heading in a positive direction. The four cities had formed the SAFER Council, which brought all stakeholders together in one place for robust discussions on the future of fire. Then that was shut down, and no solution was ever selected.

“We have to get everyone back to the table,” Larson said. “The (elected leaders) need to put down their swords and start talking about policy.”