March 23, 2020 - Out of an abundance of concern for both our citizens and personnel, at this time the Northern Lakes Fire District has restricted access to our fire stations to personnel only. 

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No-cost, 10 day burn permits can be obtained by visiting www.burnpermits.idaho.gov and our burning regulations are available below on this website.

For persons/businesses requiring paperwork or information on residential/ commercial building permits, please call our administrative office at 208/772-5711.

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We anticipate these limitations to be temporary and will be evaluating the situation every 30 days. Any updates will be passed along through this website and our Facebook page. Please rest assured that Northern Lakes Fire is ready, able, and appropriately staffed to respond to any call we receive.

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Always call 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency

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All burning is currently open with 

permits being issued for yard waste,

burn barrels and slash piles. 

A no-cost 10-day permit from the

Idaho Dept. of Lands (IDL) is required and can be obtained at www.burnpermits.idaho.gov

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All burning is currently open with 

permits being issued for yard waste,

burn barrels and slash piles. 

A no-cost 10-day permit from the

Idaho Dept. of Lands (IDL) is required and can be obtained at www.burnpermits.idaho.gov

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Recreational, cooking fires, small campfires or  warming fires, 

chimineas, and fire pits are 

allowed without a permit.

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You must have a copy of your IDL permit and a copy of the District's burning regulations on hand while burning.

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You must call the Air Quality Hotline

at 1-800-633-6247 (Option #3 for Kootenai County) for conditions prior to burning. If air quality is Green, burning is allowed. If air quality is Yellow or Red, burning is not allowed in the District.

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Greetings and thank you for taking the time to visit our website. As you explore our website, I hope it will provide insight into what we mean by "Setting the Standard". The members of Northern Lakes Fire are proud to serve those who rely on us for safety and protection.

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Northern Lakes Fire District had another record-setting year in 2019. Our crews responded to more calls for service and conducted more training hours than in any year past, all while our District continued to gain population at a feverish pace.

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In 2019, our response units were dispatched to more than 5,100 calls for service and conducted thousands of hours of required training. Our crews also performed over 100 public education presentations, providing critical fire safety presentations to more than 4,000 children and adults.

The Northern Lakes Fire District’s Prevention Bureau approved 198 new residential permits, 42 commercial permits and 629 new residential lots last year. As I have indicated in past articles, growth and development are here. It is not slowing down and we are doing our very best to meet the increased demand for services.

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Starting January 1st, the Fire District implemented a new records management system (RMS). One highlight of this new RMS is a more robust analytics component that will give us a better way to record department data. It will allow access to more comprehensive data on call volume, response times, crew  activities, etc. to more clearly emphasize the need for another fire station in our District and the additional personnel. We will be asking the public to vote again on an override levy in November 2020 to fund the additional firefighters to staff an existing building that is already in place.

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There are many ways for members of the public to see how our District operates and what the crews are faced with each day, including:

    - Attending our regularly scheduled Board of Fire Commissioner meetings held the 2nd & 4th 

      Thursday of each month.

    - Participate in our Citizen Ride-Along program that allows someone to get hands-on

      experience of what a typical  response involves.

    - As always, any of our command staff is more than happy to meet with interested citizens and

      answer questions. We are your department and want to know how we can serve you better.

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As your Fire Chief, I can assure you that your firefighters stay vigilant and train hard to be able to provide you with the highest level of service most efficiently and professionally. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

                                             Respectfully,

                                                        Pat Riley, Fire Chief

                                                                                           Phone: 208-772-5711

                                                                                           Email: pwriley@northernlakesfire.com

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EMERGENCY ALERT

Provides an all-hazards response to the greater Hayden, Rathdrum, and Twin Lakes areas in Kootenai County, located in gorgeous North Idaho. We are a career department, comprised of thirty-seven firefighters, three Chief Officers, a Fire Marshal and Deputy Fire Marshal, and three administrative support staff. In addition, all of our firefighters are also certified EMTs, including fifteen paramedics.

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Northern Lakes Fire staffs two fire engines and two advanced life support (ALS) ambulances with career staff that respond to more than 5,000 emergency calls annually from two strategically located fire stations. These stations are staffed 24/7/365. Our district is comprised of approximately 108 square miles of lakes, mountains, prairies and growing cities with a population of more than 45,000 residents. 

Please enjoy our website for your informational needs!