Title 52 — Title 52 FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTS

A fire protection district resulting from the merger of two or more fire protection districts located in the same county shall be identified by the name of the county and the number of the merger fire protection district. However, the fire protection district resulting from such …

Actions taken under chapter 52.08 RCW may be subject to potential review by a boundary review board under chapter 36.93 RCW.[ 1989 c 84 s 44.]

Territory within a fire protection district may be withdrawn from the district in the same manner provided by law for withdrawal of territory from water-sewer districts, as provided by chapter 57.28 RCW.[ 1999 c 153 s 61; 1984 c 230 s 54; 1955 c 111 s 1. Formerly RCW 52.22.010.]N…

The incorporation of any previously unincorporated land lying within a fire protection district shall operate to automatically withdraw such lands from the fire protection district.[ 1959 c 237 s 5; 1955 c 111 s 2. Formerly RCW 52.22.020.]

Effective January 1, 1960, every city or town, or portion thereof, which is situated within the boundaries of a fire protection district shall become automatically removed from such fire protection district, and no fire protection district shall thereafter include any city or tow…

A city or town encompassing territory withdrawn under chapter 52.08 RCW shall determine the most effective and feasible fire protection and emergency medical protection for the withdrawn territory, or any part thereof, and the legislative authority of the city or town and the com…

The provisions of RCW 57.28.110 shall apply to territory withdrawn from a fire protection district under the provision of chapter 52.08 RCW.[ 1985 c 7 s 120; 1959 c 237 s 7. Formerly RCW 52.22.050.]

Fire protection district commissioners residing in territory withdrawn from a fire protection district shall be replaced in the manner provided for the filling of vacancies in RCW 52.14.050.[ 1984 c 230 s 56; 1959 c 237 s 9. Formerly RCW 52.22.060.]

Actions taken under chapter 52.10 RCW may be subject to potential review by a boundary review board under chapter 36.93 RCW.[ 1989 c 84 s 45.]

Fire protection districts may be dissolved by a majority vote of the registered electors of the district at an election conducted by the election officials of the county or counties in which the district is located in accordance with the general election laws of the state. The pr…

Fire protection districts created under this title are political subdivisions of the state and shall be held to be municipal corporations within the laws and Constitution of the state of Washington. A fire protection district shall constitute a body corporate and possess all the …

Fire protection districts have full authority to carry out their purposes and to that end may acquire, purchase, hold, lease, manage, occupy, and sell real and personal property, or any interest therein, to enter into and to perform any and all necessary contracts, to appoint and…

Any fire protection district organized under this title may:(1) Lease, acquire, own, maintain, operate, and provide fire and emergency medical apparatus and all other necessary or proper facilities, machinery, and equipment for the prevention and suppression of fires, the providi…

In addition to other authority that a fire protection district possesses, a fire protection district may provide any public improvement as defined under RCW 39.89.020, but this additional authority is limited to participating in the financing of the public improvements as provide…

The taking and damaging of property or property rights by a fire protection district to carry out the purposes of its organization are declared to be for a public use. A district organized under this title may exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire property or property r…

A fire protection district may unite in a single action, proceedings to condemn property which is held by separate owners. Two or more condemnation suits instituted separately may also, in the discretion of the court, upon a motion of an interested party, be consolidated into a s…

Fire protection districts may execute executory conditional sales contracts, installment promissory notes secured by a deed of trust, or mortgages with a governmental entity or a private party for the purchase or sale of any real or personal property, or property rights: PROVIDED…

The board of commissioners of each fire district may purchase liability insurance with limits it deems reasonable for the purpose of protecting its officials and employees against liability for personal or bodily injuries and property damage arising from their acts or omissions w…

In any district in which the commissioners have adopted and published a resolution assuming the authority of issuing burning permits, a person, firm, or corporation shall not start, permit, or cause to be started or permitted an open fire on any land within a fire protection dist…

The commissioners of a district may adopt a resolution authorizing the district to issue fire permits and establishing the terms and conditions under which the permit shall be issued. Notice of the resolution shall be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspap…

Burning permits may be issued upon request, by the persons authorized by the commissioners when the issuing officer deems it appropriate. The permit shall designate the premises and the exact location where the fire may be started and permitted, the nature of the material to be b…

The permittee shall comply with the terms and conditions of the permit, and shall maintain a responsible person in charge of the fire at all times who shall maintain the fire under control, not permit it to spread to other property or structures, and extinguish the fire when the …

The violation of or failure to comply with any provision of this chapter pertaining to fire permits, or of any term or condition of the permit, is a misdemeanor.[ 1947 c 254 s 24; Rem. Supp. 1947 s 5654-151m. Formerly RCW 52.28.050.]

The violation of or failure to comply with any provision of this chapter pertaining to fire permits, or of any term or condition of the permit, is a misdemeanor.[ 1984 c 229 s 5.]

If a person starts a fire without a permit or if a permit holder fails to comply with any provision of this chapter pertaining to fire permits, or of any term or condition of the permit, and as a result of that failure the district is required to suppress a fire, the person or pe…

A fire protection district may permit, under conditions prescribed by the fire commissioners of the district, the use of its equipment and personnel beyond the boundaries of the district. Any use made of the equipment or personnel under this section shall be deemed an exercise of…

If a firefighter engages in any duty outside the boundaries of the district the duty shall be considered as part of the duty as firefighter for the district, and a firefighter who is injured while engaged in duties outside the boundaries of the district shall be entitled to the s…

Fire protection districts in proximity to land protected by a state agency are encouraged to enter into mutually beneficial contracts covering reciprocal response arrangements. In the absence of such a contractual agreement, a fire protection district that takes immediate action …

Any fire protection district which provides emergency medical services, may by resolution establish and collect reasonable charges for these services in order to reimburse the district for its costs of providing emergency medical services.[ 1984 c 230 s 81; 1975 c 64 s 1. Formerl…

(1) A rural fire protection district organized under this title may enter into a contract pursuant to chapter 39.34 RCW with a contiguous city for the furnishing by the city to the fire protection district or districts of emergency medical services in the form of ambulance servic…

Fire protection districts may cooperate and participate with counties, cities, or towns in providing hazardous materials response teams under the county, city, or town emergency management plan provided for in RCW 38.52.070. The participation and cooperation shall be pursuant to …

Without obtaining a permit issued under RCW 70A.15.5090, fire protection district firefighters may set fire to structures located outside of urban growth areas in counties that plan under the requirements of RCW 36.70A.040, and outside of any city with a population of ten thousan…

(1) The definitions in this section apply throughout this section and RCW 4.24.780 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(a) "Fire protection service agency" or "agency" means any local, state, or federal governmental entity responsible for the provision of firefighting s…

(1) The affairs of the district shall be managed by a board of fire commissioners composed initially of three registered voters residing in the district, except as provided otherwise in RCW 52.14.015, 52.14.020, and 52.14.140.(2)(a) Each member of an elected board of fire commiss…

The board of fire commissioners of a fire protection district may adopt a resolution by unanimous vote causing a ballot proposition to be submitted to voters of the district authorizing the creation of commissioner districts. The board of fire commissioners shall create commissio…

In the event a board of commissioners of any fire protection district determines by resolution that it would be in the best interest of the district to increase the number of commissioners to five or seven, or in the event the board is presented with a petition signed by 10 perce…

Except as provided in RCW 52.14.020, in the event a five-member or seven-member board of commissioners of any fire protection district determines by resolution that it would be in the best interest of the fire protection district to decrease the number of commissioners from five …

(1) In a fire protection district with elected commissioners that maintains a fire department consisting wholly of personnel employed on a full-time, fully-paid basis, there shall be five fire commissioners. A fire protection district with an annual budget of ten million dollars …

The polling places for a fire protection district election may be located inside or outside the boundaries of the district, as determined by the auditor of the county in which the fire protection district is located, and the elections of the fire protection district shall not be …

Vacancies on a board of fire commissioners shall occur as provided in chapter 42.12 RCW. In addition, if a fire commissioner is absent from the district for three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings unless by permission of the board, the office shall be declared vacant by th…

The initial three members of the board of fire commissioners shall be elected at the same election as when the ballot proposition is submitted to the voters authorizing the creation of the fire protection district. If the district is not authorized to be created, the election of …

The board of fire commissioners of a fire protection district may authorize a change to its electoral system pursuant to RCW 29A.92.040 by majority vote.[ 2018 c 113 s 208.]Notes:Findings—Intent—Short title—2018 c 113: See RCW 29A.92.005 and 29A.92.900.

Before beginning the duties of office, each fire commissioner shall take and subscribe the official oath for the faithful discharge of the duties of office as required by RCW 29A.04.133, which oath shall be filed in the office of the auditor of the county in which all, or the lar…

The fire commissioners shall elect a chair from their number and shall appoint a secretary of the district, who may or may not be a member of the board, for such term as they shall by resolution determine. The secretary, if a member of the board, shall not receive additional comp…

(1) The office of the fire commissioners and principal place of business of the district shall be at some place within the county in which the district is situated, to be designated by the board of fire commissioners.(2) The board shall hold regular monthly meetings at a place an…

All meetings of the board of fire commissioners shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 42.30 RCW and a majority constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business. All records of the board shall be open to inspection in accordance with chapter 42.56 RCW. The board has th…

(1) Insofar as practicable, purchases and any public works by the district shall be based on competitive bids. A formal sealed bid procedure shall be used as standard procedure for purchases and contracts for purchases executed by the board of commissioners. Formal sealed bidding…

(1) Notice of the call for bids shall be given by publishing the notice in a newspaper of general circulation within the district at least thirteen days before the last date upon which bids will be received. If no bid is received on the first call, the commissioners may readverti…

A low bidder who claims error and fails to enter into a contract with a fire protection district for a public works project is prohibited from bidding on the same project if a second or subsequent call for bids is made for the project.[ 1996 c 18 s 10.]

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2442-S.SL) ***(1) The members of the legislative authority of a city or town shall serve ex officio, by virtue of their office, as the fire commissioners of a fire protection district created under RCW 52.02.160.(2) The legislative authority of a city …