Yakima’s plan for an Upper Valley regional fire authority is off the table for the time being.
Yakima City Manager Bob Harrison and Fire Chief Aaron Markham said a feasibility study is on hold due to opposition from the fire districts that would be candidates for joining the proposed authority.
“Without any interest from our partners in participating in a regional fire authority, that is no longer an option for the city to consider,” Harrison said.
Markham said representatives of the Selah, West Valley and East Valley fire districts said at a recent meeting with the Yakima City Council that they were “currently satisfied with where their departments are currently at.”
At the Sept. 19 meeting at the Yakima Fire Department’s training center on East Nob Hill Boulevard, the Upper Valley fire chiefs said that the costs of a regional fire authority outweighed any perceived benefits.