ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1628
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Bronoske, Griffey, Schmidt, Simmons, Nance, Davis, and Salahuddin
Read first time 01/27/25. Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations.
AN ACT Relating to the creation of the fire service policy board; adding a new section to chapter 43.44 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that Washington state's fire service has evolved significantly over the past quarter century. Since the mid-1990s, fire departments across the state have taken on more responsibilities than ever previously envisioned. In addition to fire suppression, Washington's fire service has evolved to provide basic and advanced life support, educate the public on fire prevention, perform technical rescue, respond to hazardous materials incidents, provide all-hazards response to wildland fires, natural disasters, and pandemics and infectious disease outbreaks, and more. During this same time, Washington's population has grown by more than two million residents.
The legislature further finds that the fire service delivery work group established in 2023 and comprised of stakeholders from the entirety of the fire service in Washington state highlighted that the state fire marshal's office has been significantly deprioritized and underfunded for the last 10 years or longer. Over the last 10 years, just 3.4 percent of the state fire marshal's office policy level budget requests were funded, while the fire service training account's year-end balance declined $6.2 million over the last 12 years due to insufficient funding. These funding shortfalls have resulted in several statutory mandates being unperformed, including fire investigations, which compromise preventative efforts to reduce fire occurrences and fire impacts, ultimately compromising community and environmental safety. Further, inadequate funding for firefighter training creates unequal access to training opportunities, especially in rural and economically vulnerable areas that cannot afford to travel to the training academy. Inaccessible firefighter training risks the safety of historically marginalized communities, their firefighters, and natural environments.