On behalf of Snohomish County Fire District 7, I want to thank the citizens of Fire District 7 for their continued support. Your participation in the recent election was vital, and we appreciate you taking the time to have your opinion heard. Fire District 7 will continue to provide you with efficient emergency services, while strategically managing the tax dollars our department operates with. Although the levy has passed, we still face many challenges due to the struggling economy and decreasing property values.

In the future, we hope that you stay involved with your local fire department. This election brought forward several questions about how a fire district works, and we were able to answer those questions and give our citizens a better understanding of how we operate. We only hope that more people will take the time to understand our unique government in the future.

We understand that this is a difficult time for everyone. The bottom line is that we take your emergency service seriously, and work diligently to use tax dollars wisely. We will continue to provide fire and emergency medical services with a well thought-out response with professional and conscientious emergency responders.

Rick Eastman, fire chief