East Side Fire District on the hot seat

East Side Fire District isn’t troubled by the prospect of 3,000 new homes on the rural side of Lake Coeur d’Alene, where narrow and twisty Highway 97 often makes quick response times difficult.

“We are ready for the changes,” Fire Commissioner Sandy Scott said. “We can handle them. We are actually looking forward to it.”

Scott helped cobble together the volunteer fire district in 1993 because residents on the east side of the lake had little fire protection. The unique district is the only one in Idaho where residents within the 90-square-mile boundary can opt to pay for the service. The department has grown from 20 subscribers to about 80 percent of the property owners within the district. That equates to about 1,150 structures that include everything from multi-million-dollar lake homes to camper trailers in the area that stretches from Beauty Bay Creek to the Harrison city limits.

At the district’s inception, nobody anticipated a population boom on the east side of the lake. Now developers are transforming farm fields, meadows and timberland into exclusive golf course communities, and large, expensive homes are replacing summer cabins. There are six major developments in various stages of approval with the county.

The additional homes would likely double the number of structures the district currently protects.

The threat to the area’s rural lifestyle has united many neighbors against plans for large subdivisions, golf communities and anybody who wants to change the county’s growth map to allow more homes.

Their opposition often includes skepticism that the fire district and its 30 volunteers, who are mostly retirees in their 60s, can handle the increased work, especially because East Side offers no emergency medical services.

This has created a political tight rope for the fire district, causing Scott and the other elected fire commissioners to repeat their mantra that the district is neutral. It’s not lobbying for growth and it’s not fighting growth.

“We’re not suggesting we are all for these big subdivisions,” Chief Jim Walton said. “We live out in this area and like it rural. But for fire protection, it’s a good thing.”

Fire officials get upset when neighbors insinuate the district can’t handle the growth. Scott sent one member of the group Neighbors for Responsible Growth several e-mails, accusing the group of defamation and threatening potential lawsuits.

Scott said it’s unfortunate that the situation blew up.

“I have to have my own opinion, but when I speak for fire district I have to be very, very neutral,” Scott said. “That’s where it got fuzzy.”

The district has a five-year plan, which Scott wouldn’t reveal, saying it’s an internal document. Yet the gist, she said, is that with more homes comes more property tax revenue that funds the district. Its current annual budget totals about $210,000. Fire Commissioner George Oatman, who also is the treasurer, said he has no estimate of how much cash growth might bring.

Brian Bills of the proposed Chateau de Loire luxury golf community overlooking Moscow Bay says it should add about $510,000 combined to the fire district and Kootenai EMS budgets.

If the population prophecy comes true, the district plans to man at least one of its three fire stations 24 hours a day with paid staff.

The district also is requiring developers to put sprinklers in all the homes, place fire hydrants every 600 feet and build roads that firetrucks can access. These are all things officials said will make it easier for the district to handle growth.

Major developers such as Chateau de Loire and nearby Gozzer Ranch promise to contribute land for new fire stations and help with building costs and new equipment. They also pledge to put cash toward finding ways to improve Highway 97.

These partnerships make some locals question whether the district is supporting growth as a way to increase its funding.

Some neighbors were hesitant to discuss their skepticism about the fire district, fearful of retaliation.

Bev Twillmann, a member of the growth group who received the terse e-mails from Scott, said she anticipates the additional homes will have a negative impact not only on the fire district but all infrastructure on the east side of the lake.

“Money can’t buy everything, like non-congested roads, wildlife corridors, natural watersheds, quicker law enforcement and faster response time for emergencies,” she said.

Dave Wardworth volunteered as a firefighter for the first five years of the department’s operation but quit over a leadership shake-up in 1999.

He doesn’t see how they can handle the additional volume, and he says volunteers are hard to find.

The new residents “will be here two or three months of the year for the golfing. I can’t see them getting any volunteers out of that group of people.”

One thing is clear: Scott doesn’t want the district to appear weak for fear that Kootenai County Fire and Rescue will propose consolidation. It’s an idea that’s surfaced several times but one she didn’t want to discuss in detail.

“We aren’t trying to take them over but we do support consolidation,” said Deputy Chief Aaron Jones of Kootenai County Fire and Rescue. “If they aren’t interested we will continue to work with them to provide the best service.”

“A bigger question in a lot of people’s mind is the medical response over there,” he said. “Consolidation would bring more of a medical presence.

It would also cause an increase in taxes, likely doubling what members of the East Side Fire District currently pay.

Jones said that’s not a bad trade for medical service.

Some neighbors, even those like Wardworth who don’t think the fire district can handle the new growth, don’t like the idea of consolidation. They fear response times will decrease.

Jones said consolidation falsely alarms people because they think it would eliminate the existing volunteer fire department. He said that’s untrue and the existing structure is needed to make a new system work.