Proudly Serving the Areas of and Surrounding Hayden and Rathdrum, Idaho
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EMERGENCY ALERT
Alert! Kootenai is the emergency alert system that enables the County to provide the public with critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as winter storms, flooding, major forest fires, unexpected road closures, evacuations of building or neighborhoods and more.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF
The Northern Lakes Fire District was established with the consolidation of two neighboring fire districts in 2000. We are not a department of any city or county government and are governed by a five-member Board of Fire Commissioners elected by the public to four-year terms.
Today, the District serves five communities with more than 45,000 residents. We are an all-hazards organization that provides structural and wildland fire protection, advanced life support emergency medical services, fire prevention, and public education services, to those we serve.
In 2023, District crews responded to more than 6,000 emergency calls; an almost 70% increase from 2013. While we continue to seek resourceful and innovative means to provide the best level of service to our citizens and guests, additional staffing remains a crucial need. Please rest assured that our administration will continue working hard to identify options for funding the much needed additional firefighters.
In the meantime, our dedicated firefighters will respond to emergencies in their highly proficient and professional manner, as always.
Thank you to all the citizens for their continued support as we again move forward in our crucial mission to increase staffing for emergency response. I encourage anyone with questions, comments, or concerns to please contact me.
I just ask that when you see your fire crews out in the community, please take a moment to thank them and let them know they are appreciated and valued.
ABOUT THE NORTHERN LAKES FIRE DISTRICT
Provides an all-hazards response and community risk reduction to the greater Hayden, Rathdrum, and Twin Lakes areas in Kootenai County. Northern Lakes Fire staffs three fire engines and two advanced life support (ALS) ambulances with career staff that respond to more than 6,000 emergency calls annually out of three staffed stations 24/7/365 located in the cities of Hayden and Rathdrum. We are a career department, comprised of fifty-two firefighters, four Chief Officers, a Deputy Fire Marshal, a Fleet Mechanic, and three administrative support staff. In addition, all of our firefighters are certified EMTs, including twenty-six paramedics.
Our staff respond to structure and wildland fires, emergency medical calls with paramedic staffed ambulances, motor vehicle crashes with heavy extrication capabilities, hazardous material response, technical rescue, weather events, ice rescues, and operate two fire & rescue boats.
Our District is comprised of approximately 108 square miles of lakes, mountains, prairies and growing cities with a population of more than 45,000 residents living in a Wildland Urban Interface identified by the Federal Registry as high risk for wildfire.
Please enjoy our website for your informational needs!
Burning of yard waste, all slash piles (exceeding 10 ft. high x 10 ft. wide) and burn barrels is now open.
Burn permits through the Idaho Dept. of Lands (IDL) are NOT required from
October 21st through May 8th.
Please keep a copy of the District Burning Rules on hand when burning.
DISTRICT EMPLOYMENT
The District does continuous testing for entry-level Firefighter/Paramedics
and Firefighter/EMTs through
National Testing Network (NTN)
Please visit our Employment Tab
for more information on this
continuous entry level testing and eligibility pool process
DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES
ANNOUCEMENTS
In 2022, the District entered into agreements with Kootenai County, the city of Hayden, and the city of Rathdrum, to collect development fire impact fees on new growth in our District.
These development impact fees were calculated based on the District's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) adopted in May 2022
For information on the process for collection of fire district development impact fees, please follow the links below :
In September 2022, the Northern Lakes Fire District was awarded a $4.5 million SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant that will fund twelve additional firefighters for three years. This grant will allow the District to staff a third fire station in the Garwood area 24/7 sometime in 2023. Funding for the station is not included in the grant and the District will be financing the construction of the station.
For more information on the new station, staffing, and how the grant will affect response times, please read the media release below.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
The Northern Lakes Fire District Board of Commissioners holds regularly scheduled board meetings on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of
each month at 10:00 a.m. at Fire Station 1 located at
125 W. Hayden Ave., in Hayden unless otherwise noted
INFORMATION
The next Board of Fire Commissioners'
regular meeting will be held on
Thursday, April 25th, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.
at our Fire Station #1 located at
125 W. Hayden Ave. in Hayden
RELATED LINKS
Northern Lakes Fire Career Firefighters
Are Proudly Represented by the
International Association of Firefighters Local #4045
Click on logo for more information
