wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2237 > Original Bill
The legislature recognizes the importance of the Washington state fire marshal's office (SFMO), which is housed within the Washington state patrol. The SFMO provides live-fire training to firefighters and coordinates and mobilizes the statewide response to significant emergency events that exhaust local resources. The SFMO is also required to provide hazmat training to first responders; conduct fire and safety inspections in child care, health care, and residential care facilities; issue licenses and certifications for industries including fireworks, cigarettes, and fire sprinkler systems; collect and transmit fire report information to the national fire incident reporting system; and investigate fires that are criminal, suspected, or undetermined.
In 2023, the legislature created the fire service delivery work group to evaluate existing funding and service delivery models of fire service functions. Some of the findings from the work group include the following:
Local fire departments pay 35 to 55 percent more than the SFMO for equivalent positions resulting in multiple, long-term staff vacancies in the SFMO;
The SFMO does not provide fire investigation services, hazmat preparedness, inspections, and smoke detector enforcement because of lack of funding; and
The lack of state-level advocacy, insufficient wages, and insufficient funding are key barriers that threaten fire service delivery.
[Empty]
The minimum monthly salary paid to deputy state fire marshals must be competitive with local firefighting agencies within the boundaries of the state of Washington, guided by the results of a survey undertaken in the collective bargaining process during each biennium. The survey must be conducted by the office of financial management in accordance with this section and within existing resources.
Compensation must be calculated using base salary, premium pay (a pay received by more than a majority of employees), education pay, and longevity pay. The compensation comparison data is based on the deputy state fire marshals and the local firefighting agencies listed in (c) of this subsection (1).
The comparisons for determining competitiveness with other firefighting agency salary levels must be guided by the average of compensation paid to the corresponding rank from the following agencies: Seattle fire department; Vancouver fire department; Spokane fire department; Snohomish regional fire and rescue; Tacoma fire department; South King county fire and rescue; and the King county fire districts.
By September 1, 2026, and every four years thereafter, the office of financial management, within existing resources, must conduct an evaluation of the agencies identified in (c) of this subsection to ensure deputy state fire marshal salary levels are competitive with other fire marshals of local agencies within the boundaries of the state of Washington. If the office of financial management determines that one or more agencies specified in (c) of this subsection should be replaced in this comparison with a different agency that is more relevant to ensure salary competitiveness, the office of financial management may utilize that revised compensation comparison data in the survey undertaken in the collective bargaining process during each biennium.
By September 1, 2026, as part of the salary survey required in this section, the office of financial management must report to the governor and the appropriate fiscal and state government committees of the house of representatives and the senate.
The state fire service policy board, created under RCW 43.44.200, shall examine the benefits of, and issues arising from, creating and supporting a state fire marshal office that is separate and independent of the state patrol.
The board must submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2026.
This section expires December 31, 2026.