A North Puget Sound city and its firefighters are in a heated battle about the future of your fire service.
The Marysville Fire District says the city of Marysville is more concerned about control than citizen safety, and they are picketing outside City Hall.
For 25 years the city of Marysville and Snohomish County District 12 have been partnered to be the Marysville Fire District but that partnership’s contract is now up.
“It’s been a proven consolidation and what we’re looking for is a permanent consolidation through the RFA, explained veteran firefighter and local union president Jason Tucker. He says forming a Regional Fire Authority is makes the most sense—dollars and cents.
“The fact is the district brings in cash flow to the fire district but uses minimal resources,” he says, showing us on a map which areas outside of city limits they cover.
But the city of Marysville—which makes up 80 percent of the district—is not convinced. Marysville is now six times the size it was when it signed that contract with District 12, 25 years ago.
“The modeling that we’ve looked at recently shows a city department can be viable if we chose to go that way and we would increase the level of service," explained Jeff Vaughan, a Marysville City Council member.