Private bridges

Private bridges are where a private road or driveway crosses a river, stream or other waterway. Many of these private bridges were built decades ago without permits, plan review and oversight. Some have never been inspected by a qualified engineer since their construction, and no documentation exists for how much weight, or “load,” they can handle.

It is the policy of East County Fire & Rescue to require that all privately owned bridges used for vehicular access to private property be inspected by a licensed engineer at least every five years to determine the load carrying capacity of the bridge. Our emergency vehicles are not permitted to cross bridges that have not been inspected.

County fire districts and the Clark County Fire Marshall will host a series of open houses regarding private bridges. There will be one at our main station, on NE 267th Ave. on Thursday, February 9, from 4 to 7 p.m.

Click here for more information.

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Message from the Chief

Welcome to the East County Fire & Rescue (ECFR) website. We are pleased that you took time to ‘check-out’ the Fire District.

We are honored to serve the 10,106 persons who live in the 60 square miles of unincorporated area that is north of—and east of— the cities of Camas and Washougal, Washington. Currently, about 60 fire, medical and support personnel respond from our six fire stations to provide Emergency Medical Services, fire suppression and public service assistance. We handled 698 incidents in 2010—and have experienced a significant increase in calls (+28%), so far this year.

Ours is a ‘combination’ fire agency—comprised of both volunteer and paid personnel. Most of our personnel volunteer their time, energy and talents to provide for a safer community. All of our personnel are committed to serving the persons who live in the Fire District—as well as those folks who travel through or visit our Community.

East County Fire & Rescue has served this Community since 1945. We use innovative staffing models to deliver cost-efficient response to this rural area. Careful stewardship of property tax revenue, additional revenue generated through State Mobilization (response to large wildfires anywhere in the State of Washington); and aggressive grant seeking have allowed ECFR to operate without significant reductions in programs or services; without reduction in staff hours; and without any lay-offs—even in these tough economic times.

We are proud of the many programs and services that we offer to our Customers. Please feel free to call or visit our stations to learn about our (actually your) facilities, apparatus, personnel and programs.

Please let us know if there is anything that we can do to assist you.

Sincerely,

Scott Koehler, Fire Chief

East County Fire & Rescue's 2010 year end review is presented as a slide show, formatted for Internet Explorer. To view click on the link below. The slide show will open in a new browser window. Click on each slide to proceed to the next one.

2010 Year End Review

Station Locations