On the ballot this year for Special Purpose Elections is the Polson Rural Fire District’s request for a $250,000 annual levy to maintain safety and equipment as the outskirts of Polson continue to grow.  

The seven-year levy would amount to $6.86 per year for a house with a market value of $100,000, $20.57 per year for a house valued at $300,000, or $47.08 per year for a house valued at $600,000.  

This is the first time Polson Rural has requested a levy in 14 years.  

The department services 200 square miles and more than 6,000 residents from near Elmo to Hellroaring Road on Highway 35 and down Highway 93 into the north end of Pablo. Fire chief Will Woodger describes it as a large district that takes 45 minutes to travel from either end on a “good day.”  

The department, which separated from the City of Polson Fire Department in 2016, operates out of four stations and has one full-time chief, a part-time district administrator and 37 volunteers. Across the stations, they maintain 17 emergency vehicles and fire trucks.  

“We've been doing a really good job. But we're starting to get outpaced. Call volume is rising. Costs are rising. Current funding is just not going to keep up,” Woodger said. “The real deal with this levy is to maintain safe, reliable emergency response for the community.” 

Alone, the department's operational costs, such as fuel, insurance and electricity, are expensive. Chief Woodger explained that their Type 1 engine, the district's primary flagship engine that responds to every call, was purchased in 2007 and will need to be replaced.  

He noted that they paid $340,000 for the unit, and the cost to replace it is $1.2 million today, with a 51-month wait period. According to the National Fire Protection Association standards, these engines should be replaced every 15 years.  

The Polson Rural Fire Board of Trustees set aside $58,000 for a new engine last year, but the board is also working to make capital improvements at some of its other stations that lack water or septic systems.  

“The board has made steps to say, ‘we understand that we need to do this, and we're putting money away to try to get that done,’” Woodger said. “This board has done a fantastic job with funding the budget, finding the money to make sure that our volunteers have excellent gear.”  

The department has had a strong partnership with the Missoula Rural Fire District and has purchased multiple pieces of used equipment at a lower cost. The board also replaced two command vehicles at no cost to the district through grants.  

“My motto is that you need just enough fire protection to do the job, but you don't need anything extra. You don't need Taj Mahal stations. You don't need brand new trucks. You don't need fancy this, fancy that,” Woodger said. “You just need enough emergency services to do the job safely and provide a good service.”  

The department has seen an increase in calls from 267 in 2024 to 292 in 2025 and Woodger expects this trend to continue over the next seven years, reaching 500 calls annually. With that, summer call volumes are higher as well, as the area population and tourist season boom, for a department that responds to all calls, not just fire. Woodger said to hit their benchmark with that growth, they need to add 13 more volunteers, which means more turnouts and gear.  

“We would be nothing without our volunteers; they're carrying the load. The public buys the equipment, and the volunteers save them a bunch of money,” he said.  

Turnouts cost $3,400 for just pants and a jacket, and $8,000 to $12,000 for an interior firefighter. However, that doesn’t include a $500 radio and training costs. Woodger said another expense for the district is his $53,000 salary.  

Woodger said the goal of this levy is to sustain the department until the levy expires. He noted that the board has a strategy of slowly replacing what they need instead of replacing everything at once because then all their equipment would need to be replaced simultaneously.  

The department plans to also purchase a brush truck. One of the current brush trucks is owned by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, under an agreement that allows the fire department to use it for their fires, as long as they insure it and maintain it. But they must also respond to DNRC fires.  

Woodger would like the department to have its own brush truck because the DNRC can remove theirs at any point.  

The board also aims to use the levy to improve safety gear and tools, and replace equipment, while building recruitment, training, and further facility improvements.  

Another large goal for the department is keeping its ISO ratings down. The department recently reduced it from eight to six, and replacing the flagship engine will allow them to move the existing engine to another station, giving them more positive credit on their rating.  

Woodger calls the rating evaluation a game of chess, and they can’t control everything, but staffing, training, equipment and hauling water improve the ISO, which in turn can lower insurance rates for residents. 

The department will host an open house on Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to address any questions about the levy at the district's Station 1, 25 Regatta Road, Polson. Learn more about the department on Facebook at Polson Rural Fire District or call 406-883-4244 with questions.