CLEARVIEW — Snohomish County’s largest fire district could get a whole lot bigger.
Officials for Fire District 1 met March 9 with their counterparts at Fire District 7 to discuss a possible merger.
Commissioners for both districts eventually agreed to schedule an informational meeting later this month to hear reports from the financial officers and the fire chiefs of each district.
It’s important to examine both districts’ strengths and weaknesses, said District 1 Commissioner Brian S. McMahan, and figure out “what is it we both don’t have today that we could have tomorrow.”
Advocates say merging the districts could streamline a host of fire and emergency medical operations, save money and provide better service to a combined 280,000 residents.
“We’re remiss as public officials if we don’t take a look at these things to see if we can be more efficient,” said Roy Waugh, chairman of the District 7 Board of Commissioners.
District 1 is the county’s largest fire district, serving more than 150,000 people. Its boundaries stretch across 46 square miles of mostly suburban, unincorporated South Snohomish County.
Additionally, the district contracts with the cities of Woodway, Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace and Brier, providing fire and emergency medical service to an additional 70,000 people who live outside district boundaries.
District 7 serves about 60,000 mostly rural residents from just west of the Bothell-Everett Highway, south to the King County line in unincorporated Bothell and north to the Snohomish River and a large swath of East County.
Under a contract, it also provides fire and emergency medical services to Mill Creek.
Discussions between the two districts about a possible merger and an increase in shared services have been ongoing gone on yearly since 2006, though not last year, District 1 Chairman Jim Kenny said.
Tuesday was the first joint meeting of the districts to discuss the issue since 2008 and since new board members were elected to both districts in November.
Scott Hamilton, president of the union representing District 1 firefighters, said labor leaders support the idea of a merger.
“As we stand right now, both locals are in absolute agreement,” he said. “We are very excited and we anticipate ultimately building a better level of service.”
Hamilton pointed out at the March 9 meeting that both districts already participate in training exercises together and go on calls together.
District 1 merged with Snohomish County Fire District 11, which was located near Silver Lake, in the 1990s.
The district has continued to focus on growth. Its service contract with Edmonds was somewhat controversial during that city’s budget review last year, with critics asking whether the agreement was in everyone’s best interest. The district also has ruffled feathers in Mukilteo by challenging that city’s annexation proposal in court.
Enterprise news editor Jocelyn Robinson contributed to this report.
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