Fire service areas in the Mat-Su Borough

When you have an emergency, you count on your local fire department to arrive quickly. But did you know that these fire departments often operate independently from one another? Fire Service Areas, or FSAs, are an important part of how our community stays protected.

Fire Service Areas first started appearing in the Mat-Su Borough back in the 1970s when more people began moving to the area. Before that time, fire protection wasn't very extensive and mostly depended on volunteers. The earliest FSAs formed when neighbors worked together to create better fire protection for everyone.

Today, the Mat-Su Borough contains seven different Fire Service Areas: Sutton, Greater Palmer, Butte, Central Mat-Su, West Lakes, Willow Caswell, and Talkeetna. These areas exist because locals voted to establish special districts specifically for fire protection services. Some communities like Trapper Creek and Chickaloon have their own nonprofit fire departments that operate outside the Mat-Su Borough system. The cities of Houston and Palmer maintain their own separate municipal fire departments.

FSAs work as special taxing districts. This means people who own property in each FSA pay a tax to fund firefighting services where they live. The tax rate varies depending on the services provided and each community's needs. The money from these taxes pays for important fire protection services within the community it was collected.

This pays for firefighters, training them, keeping equipment ready, and maintaining fire stations. Some FSAs use full-time firefighters to protect their communities. Others use a mix of career staff and volunteers who live in the area and want to help.

Every FSA has its own Board of Supervisors. These boards usually have five people who live in the area. The Mat-Su Borough Assembly chooses these board members, who each serve for three years. The primary job of these boards is to make sure the fire service works well for their communities. They offer advice on spending, community priorities, and the local operation of fire services. They also advise the Borough Assembly on the amount of tax money needed to maintain the fire service.

Board members help connect residents with their fire departments. They organize public meetings where people from the community can talk about their concerns, get answers to their questions, and find out how their fire department works. These meetings give community members a chance to share their thoughts about their fire department and how it serves them.

If you want to learn more about your FSA, you can visit the Mat-Su Borough website at www.matsugov.us. The website shows maps of FSA boundaries, how much tax you pay, and when meetings happen. You can also call the Emergency Services Department if you have questions about fire protection.

Anyone can go to the Board of Supervisors meetings. These meetings usually happen once a month and are open to everyone. The borough puts notices about these meetings on their website. If you want to be on a board yourself, you can put nominate yourself when someone's term in the seat is expiring.

Property owners or developers who want to join an adjacent FSA need to send a request to the Mat-Su Borough. This petition should tell them about your property and explain why joining the FSA would be good for both you and the fire service. Next, the FSA Board looks at your request. They think about things like how far your property is from the fire station, accessibility, and whether you border the service area.

After that, the Borough Assembly makes the final decision. They gather all the information and hold meetings where people who live nearby can share what they think. It may go to a vote of the FSA and petitioners, as well.

Developers should coordinate early with both the Borough Planning Department and the FSA to ensure their plans align with fire protection requirements.