Clatskanie Rural Fire Protection District

About us

The Clatskanie Rural Fire Protection District provides Fire, Rescue and Emergency Medical Services to the city of Clatskanie and over 135 square miles of rural area. Our main station is located off Hwy 30 near the Clatskanie River that flows through the town we serve. Our boundary extends outside the city North to the Columbia River, South over Clatskanie Mountain to a shared boundary with Mist, East to the Alston area to a shared boundary with Rainier, and West past the Woodson area to the Clatsop county line. Our EMS services extend into Clatsop County to Bradley Summit.

Our Staffing is a combination of both career and volunteer personnel. Our career staff includes our Chief, Assistant Chief, three Division Officers, and nine Firefighter/Paramedics who are all stationed at our main station. We have two substations where apparatus has been strategically housed to provide the best coverage for our district. All stations are supported by Volunteer Firefighters and/or EMT's who respond from home to the closest station when the call goes out. At this time we also have several Interns. Our Interns gain career-developing skills and earn college credits through the on-the-job training they receive working for the department.

History

The Clatskanie Volunteer Fire Department was organized around 1900. Our first motorized apparatus was a chemical truck on a Ford Model A chassis purchased in 1930. It was primary protection for the City of Clatskanie until 1944 when the city purchased and reconstructed a 1940 Ford truck into a 500gpm front mount pumper. In 1947, the city also obtained a 1942 500gpm Ford Pumper from war surplus.

On November 22, 1955 a Rural Fire Protection District was formed by the area surrounding the city and a 600gpm International Pumper was purchased. This engine served as a first line engine until the mid-1990's. Between 1955 and 1964, volunteer firefighters within the city responded to both city and rural district calls on apparatus owned by the city, and on apparatus owned by the fire protection district. During this time two additional stations were developed, Mayger Station and Delena Station.

Though their primary role was firefighting, the volunteers were active in seeing to the all safety needs of their community, such as in 1958 when they instigated a project to build the Clatskanie Swimming Pool after seven young children drowned over a three week period.

On April 10, 1969 the City of Clatskanie disbanded its own municipal fire department and annexed into the Clatskanie Rural Fire Protection District. Also in 1969, the local funeral director, Gail Haakinson, announced that he would no longer run the ambulance service. Again the volunteers of Clatskanie stepped up and received EMT training to take over the role of ambulance provider. In July of 1970 a Chief was hired and the first district ambulance, a 1970 Cadillac, was purchased and Haakinson donated his 1961 Pontiac ambulance to the fire district as a reserve ambulance. In 1971 a Deputy Chief was hired full time.

Engine 486, a custom Mack, was purchased in 1972. Other apparatus have been purchased and recycled over the years including ambulances, engines, rescues, tenders, and two wildland deuce and a halves.

In 1976, two Chiefs, two book keepers and approximately 65 volunteers operated out of the three stations. Apparatus included six pumpers, three tankers, two ambulances (one of which was a combination rescue/ambulance). They responded to an average of 55 fire calls per year. An average of 160 ambulance calls were made during this time.

Two additional firefighters EMT's were hired in 1978 and the following year a fourth station was added to the district in the Quincy area.

1979 saw the hiring of two dispatchers, each working eight hour shifts per day. The volunteers provided coverage during the unstaffed hours. June 1991 saw the replacement of district dispatchers by the Columbia 911 Communications Center.

Currently our district has a total of four structural engines, a telesquirt, two wildland engines, one rescue, three ambulances, and a water tender in service. Our career staff, interns, and approximately 10 volunteers respond to over 1,100 calls per year out of three stations.