Thanks to voters who passed south county fire district merger

Thank you to the voters in the city of Lynnwood and Snohomish County Fire District 1 who participated in the Aug. 1 Primary Election and approved the formation of a regional fire authority.

Throughout my entire career of more than 38 years, we’ve been talking about consolidating fire departments into a single regional agency to better serve the citizens of south Snohomish County. It’s an idea that never went away because it makes sense operationally and financially. It took root as we started to see these benefits first-hand in the merger of Fire Districts 1 and 11 in 2000 and consolidations with the Mountlake Terrace Fire Department in 2005 and the Edmonds Fire Department in 2010.

Now in 2017, thanks to our voters, we will take the next step as the Lynnwood Fire Department and Fire District 1 combine to create a new fire authority to better serve the entire region. Thank you for supporting your firefighters and giving us this opportunity to come together to create a more efficient, effective and sustainable fire service. We look forward to serving you as South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue beginning Oct. 1.

Brad Reading, interim fire chief

Lynnwood Fire Department

Snohomish County Fire District 1