Fire District 13 Commission Chair Bruce Shellhamer traveled over 300 miles to discover his department shares the same operational challenges with similar fire districts.

“We’re not alone when it comes to staffing issues,” said Shellhamer, told commissioners at their Nov. 10 monthly meeting, providing highlights from October’s annual Washington Fire Commissioners Association conference in Spokane.

District 13 has lost personnel to what Fire Chief Wood Weiss calls “career departments” that pay full salaries and benefits.

“All (volunteer and hybrid) departments are dealing with h...