S. E. Thurston County Fire Co-Chiefs Rita Hutcheson & Mark King have been presenting their Fire Department Services and Funding Report around the district with the September 19th Fire Levy on the upcoming ballot.

Your vote for this levy is needed to insure funding for these critical services.
Won't you consider becoming educated and mark your ballot FOR the Fire/EMS levy?

"Yelm Fire District, Thurston County Fire District #4 (Rainier), and Thurston County Fire District #17 have been operating together as S.E. Thurston Fire/EMS for the past 3 years. The City of Yelm has also received emergency services through a contractual arrangement. All contracts are due to be renewed in 2006. A decision was made as a result of increasing service demands with little increase in resources, to contract with a consultant to review the current operational agreements, to identify strengths, to identify weaknesses, and to make recommendations for the future direction of the organization. The purpose of this consultation was to assist the Fire Chiefs and elected officials in working together as a cohesive group for a common goal: better service for our communities. Mr. John Murphy, a consultant with Baldwin Resource Group, Inc., obtained information about the organization through personal interviews with the department Chief Officers, Fire Commissioners from each of the 3 boards, City of Yelm Council members, and the local representative for IAFF Local 3825 (Yelm). Also reviewed were written documents regarding budgets, contracts, response data, etc. from the fire districts and from the City of Yelm."
Click on the report's strengths, weaknesses and suggestions.