Project overview
A Regional Fire Authority (RFA) is a permanent and flexible way to provide reliable, high-quality fire and EMS services with dedicated funding. An RFA is an independent governmental organization composed of two or more fire jurisdictions – cities, fire districts, or tribal entities – that join together to provide fire and emergency medical services to their combined service area.
City leaders and the Whatcom County Fire District 8 Board of Commissioners agree this is best way to sustain fire protection and emergency medical services for the Bellingham area. In April 2026, they voted to form an RFA planning committee that will create a plan for the structure and funding of an RFA to serve the Bellingham area.
Ultimately, the decision to form an RFA and what tax rate to set must be approved by voters.
Why an RFA?
Calls for fire and EMS in Bellingham have risen by 35% in the last decade, compared to only 17% in the decade before that. Today, crews are responding to about 67 calls each day – 25 more calls every day than they did 10 years ago, but without an equal increase in staffing or stations.
A study by the City of Bellingham in 2025-26 showed that the rising demand and growing call complexity are stretching crews, reducing their availability to respond to other calls and leading to longer response times to critical incidents.
Over the next 10 years, it could cost up to $30 million more each year to fully catch up on staffing levels, specialty units, and equipment to meet the growing public safety needs in our community. The City’s budget can’t keep up with these rising costs, and we need a new, dedicated funding mechanism.
Read our Public Safety Level of Service study to learn more.
Project status
The Bellingham City Council voted on April 13, 2026 to form an RFA planning committee and selected elected officials to serve on the committee. On April 9, 2026, Whatcom County Fire District 8 (WCFD8) commissioners also voted to form a committee and selected which commissioners will represent WCFD8.
Find upcoming planning committee meetings on our events calendar or visit the Planning Committee’s meetings page.
Contact us
Media contact: media@cob.org
Questions: fire@cob.org | 360-778-8400
Participating departments
- Fire Department
- Mayor’s Office
- Information Technology
- Finance
- Legal
- Human Resources
Affected neighborhoods
- All
