News and Fire Prevention

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Hubbare Fire District
Measure 24-510 

Proposed Hubbard Fire District Local Option Levy Information:

Levy Purpose

The Hubbard Fire District (HFD) is proposing a five-year local option levy to provide funding for emergency operations. This funding will maintain current staffing levels, provide necessary maintenance of emergency equipment, and allow the Hubbard Fire District to continue automatic mutual-aid agreements with neighboring fire agencies to ensure backup coverage for all 9-1-1 calls at all times. This levy has been approved by the Hubbard Fire District Board of Directors and is scheduled to appear on the May 20, 2025, ballot.

Maintain Current Staffing Levels

The Hubbard Fire District currently has three full-time career firefighters who work 24 hours on and then have 48 hours off. The Fire Chief works 8 am-5 pm on weekdays. Volunteers provide staffing on weekdays, weeknights, and on weekends. This allows the district to have 24/7 incident response coverage. The proposed levy will maintain the current career firefighters and ensure there is staffing at the Hubbard Fire Station at all times. The need for firefighters on duty 24/7 comes from a direct result of steady 9-1-1 calls.

Call Volume by year:
2018 - 630 incidents
2019 - 714 incidents
2020 - 839 incidents
2021 - 1,189 incidents
2022 - 901 incidents
2023 - 989 incidents
2024 - 855 incidents

As the City of Hubbard and surrounding areas continue to experience property development and population growth, we will also see an increase in demand for emergency and non-emergency responses. This levy will help the district meet the current and future service needs of the citizens.

Provide Required Maintenance of Emergency Equipment

Each year the Hubbard Fire District has costs associated with maintaining emergency response apparatus and equipment as well as replacing personal protective equipment. The cost to provide this essential maintenance rises each year. Current maintenance needs include the testing of apparatus pumps, fire hose, hydraulic and battery powered rescue tools, and ladders. In addition, some equipment has to be replaced annually like emergency medical supplies, and some has to be replaced every five years like personal protective gear. Levy funds will allow the district to keep emergency apparatus and equipment in top working condition, in compliance with national standards, and meet many other operational needs required to serve the community.  

Allow Continuation of 24/7 Mutual-Aid Back-up Coverage

In 2020, the Hubbard Fire District entered into an automatic mutual-aid agreement with the Aurora and Woodburn Fire Districts. This allows each fire agency to help the others during times of high incident response volumes, during large-scale incidents, and other times when the demand for service exceeds local resources. The Hubbard Fire District was only able to enter into these agreements by guaranteeing staffing 24/7 at the Hubbard Fire Station. Maintaining our current staffing model, provided by the proposed levy, will allow the continuation of 24/7 backup coverage from neighboring fire districts for every emergency incident. Without additional staffing, the number of missed calls is likely to significantly increase.

Levy Cost

The cost of the proposed levy is $1.10 per thousand of assessed property value. The average assessed value of a single-family residence in the Hubbard Fire District is $388,000. The proposed levy would increase the Fire District taxes on the average residence by $427 per year or about $36 per month. If the local option levy is approved, the overall tax rate for the Hubbard Fire District would be $2.17 per thousand. The combined HFD tax rate with the proposed levy would be similar to the tax rates of the neighboring fire districts as indicated below:

                                  Base Tax Rate            Levy                Bond             Total
Hubbard =          $0.80                              $1.10             $0.26             $2.17 per $1000 of assessed value

Aurora =              $0.84                              $1.51             $0.00              $2.35 per $1000 of assessed value

Woodburn =      $1.60                              $0.35              $0.26            $2.21 per $1000 of assessed value

Summary

The proposed local option levy will provide funds to maintain current staffing levels, provide for required maintenance needs, and allow the continuation of automatic mutual-aid agreements to ensure emergency response backup coverage at all times. The local option levy will allow the Hubbard Fire District to proactively meet the increasing demand for emergency services and provide long-term sustainability of the district resources as the community continues to grow.

May 20th, 2025 Election

The Hubbard Fire District Board of Directors have approved a levy which will be  on the May 20th, 2025 ballot. Here are the facts of this levy:

The Hubbard Fire District has a levy that ends on June 30th of 2025. The rate is $.99 cents per $1000 of assessed value.

The new purposed levy is $1.10 per $1000 of assessed value. The new levy will begin on July 1st, 2025 and go through June 30th, 2030. 

This means there will be no service interruptions from the Hubbard Fire District in between the two operational levies. 

The new levy focues on three important areas: providing adequate staffing, proper apparatus and equipment maintenance, and the continuation of 24/7 mutual-aid coverage. 

Maintain Current Staffing
The new levy will allow the district to maintain its current staffing levels. This is important because the call volume of the Hubbard Fire District has increased by approximately 47% since 2018. HFD has three career firefighters, a paid fire chief, and 32 volunteers.
In 2022 the district responded to 901 calls for service, in 2023 the district responded to 989 calls for service, and in 2024 the district responded to 855 calls for service. A combination of career and volunteer staffing is required to meet the service demands of Hubbard and the surronding areas. This includes emergency and non-emergency responses, fire prevention, and fire code enforcement. In the next five years the city of Hubbard, and surronding areas, are expected to continue to see growth. It is also expected the the demands for serive from the Hubbard Fire District will rise as well.

Provide Maintenance for Apparatus and Equipment
Each year the Hubbard Fire District has costs associated with maintaining emergency response apparatus and equipment. The cost to provide this critically needed maitenance rises each year. Levy funds will allow the district to keep emergency apparatus and equipment in top working condition, in compliance with national standards, and meet the district's operational needs.

Allow the Continuation of 24/7 Mutual-Aid Coverage
In 2020 the Hubbard FIre District entered into an agreement with Aurora and Woodburn Fire Districts. THis agreement allowed the each district to help cover each other during times of high call volumes, major incidents, and other times when the demands for service exceeds local resources. HFD was only able to enter these agreements by ensureing the Hubbard Fire Station is staffed 24/7. This levy will allow the continuation of this agreement and help keep additional safeguards in place for safty of the citizens and property of the Hubbard Fire District. 

If you have questions please please direct them to 503-981-9454 or email them to chief@hubbardfire.com

January 2025 - Smoke Detector Program

Do you or somebody you know need smoke detectors for your home? The Hubbard Fire District can help. Partnering with the Oregon State Fire Marsahl Office, we will come to your home and install smoke detectors for free. Smoke detectors give occupants early warnings that a fire is occuring. This allows more time for occupants to escape and start a 911 emergency response process which can save help save lives and property. If you are intrested please call the Fire Station at 503-981-9454 and ask for the Fire Chief. 

Through a donation, HFD has state of the art smoke detectors to install in homes that need them.

November 2024 - HFD responds to afternoon house fire

11/8/2024

On November 8th, 2024 at 3:59 P.M. the Hubbard Fire District was dispatched to a report of a house fire in the area of Shirley Court and Shirley Avenue in the Hubbard Fire District. While in route Hubbard Engine 87  spotted a visible smoke column on the horizon and immediately upgraded the incident to a second alarm. A second alarm dispatches additional units from surrounding agencies, Engine 87 arrived at approximately 16:04 to find a single-wide manufactured home with heavy fire showing from the front of the structure. Engine 87 immediately began an offensive fire attack to combat the blaze. Two occupants were transported for smoke inhalation. HFD was assisted by the St Paul Fire District, Monitor Fire District, Aurora Fire District, Woodburn Fire District, and Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Helmet camera shows conditions as Engine 87 arrived and went to work. Image captured by Lieutenant Hamilton of HFD.