POST FALLS — Kootenai County Fire and Rescue's board of commissioners voted Monday to discontinue an agreement to provide hazmat services for North Idaho's Region One. 

“We're very concerned about what the future holds for us and our taxing authority and how that’s going to affect us. It takes time, effort and bandwidth, brainpower, skills, knowledge and ability to be able to manage the overall program,” Fire Chief Pete Holley said.  

Commissioner Andy Boyle said there isn’t a guarantee for future funding for the program and long-term maintenance has been a growing concern for the fire district.  

“What’s our gear going to look like in six or seven years?” Boyle asked.  

Holley said the program will not disappear overnight. KCFR has 90 days to sunset the program.  

“Last night’s vote didn’t mean we just turned the keys off and flipped the switch and today all of a sudden, we’re not the Region One team,” Holley said. “If there’s a hazmat incident that happens today, we’re the go-to team.”    

KCFR's hazmat team acquired more resources and more extensive training in the early 2000s after 9/11, Holley said.  

Because there was more federal funding and grants to have a well-outfitted hazmat response team, the district focused on bolstering its response through newly acquired equipment and skills.  

“We had a significant call volume for hazmat in the 2000s. We had maybe 30, 40, 50 calls a year,” Holley said. “That's dwindled over time.”  

Now, KCFR has about two full mobilizations of its hazmat team each year.   

“A small volunteer department 20 years ago, if they had a 50-gallon fuel spill, we’d come out and help with that emergency,” Holley said. “Now, a lot of those small departments have some resources available, and they can handle those emergencies without us.”  

Larger incidents such as truck rollovers, chemical releases or other larger incidents are the main source of major calls for hazmat services for the area.  

Assistant Fire Chief John Miller of Silver Valley Fire Rescue said the Shoshone County firefighters only call in Kootenai County Fire for major issues with hazardous materials.    

“About once a year we need them for large spills," Miller said.   

Every regional team in the state has to sign a new contract and the funding agreement, Holley stated.    

“I don’t know if everybody is going to sign the agreement and move forward. It's not feasible for us anymore,” Holley said. 

The state provided reimbursement funding for hazmat equipment this year, but Kootenai County Fire commissioners and firefighting leadership worried that future funding wouldn’t keep up at the same pace as equipment degrades.  

“While it would be great to get brand-new equipment, a new vehicle and all these things from the state, without a plan to make sure things stay current, it feels like we might end up in the same realm we were where there was a lot of funding in the early 2000s and then the funding started to trickle down. We ended up not having as many resources as we once did,” Holley said.  

Kootenai County Fire and Rescue staff will work with neighboring hazmat response teams such as the one in Lewiston to transition services over the next 90 days.  

“We’re going to help find a path forward,” Holley said.  

    Kootenai County Fire and Rescue's hazmat team responds to a hazardous material incident involving a boat.
  

    Kootenai County Fire and Rescue's board of commissioners voted Monday to end the district's coordination of hazmat services for region one of North Idaho. The district has 90 days to sunset the program.