Early election results for major Pierce County fire department merger are in
Early election results April 22 show voters approving a major Central Pierce Fire and Rescue merger.
The merger has 6,262 “yes” votes (87%) and 924 “no” votes (13%) so far from Graham voters. It has 1,645 “yes” votes (84%) and 303 “no” votes (16%) from Orting voters. It needs a simple majority to pass.
If passed, the ballot measures would merge Graham Fire & Rescue and Orting Valley Fire & Rescue into Central Pierce Fire & Rescue starting Jan. 1, 2026 – making those three entities into one.
“The numbers look phenomenal,” Dustin Morrow, the fire chief at Central Pierce Fire & Rescue, told The News Tribune. “To see those numbers and realize that the community support is there, it’s what we believed was there — it’s super exciting.”
Brianna Stenstrom, a spokesperson for Central Pierce Fire & Rescue, previously told The News Tribune that if one measure passes but the other one doesn’t, it will be a partial merger. Central Pierce Fire & Rescue serves residents in Parkland, Midland, Spanaway, South Hill, Puyallup and Summit. The organization serves 85 square miles and roughly 240,000 residents.
“I’m just so excited to be able to put this thing together for real,” Morrow said after the votes came in April 22. “And demonstrate to the community what a really high-quality, high-performing fire EMS service can be, and I just couldn’t be more proud of our men and women.”
Stenstrom previously told The News Tribune that CPFR, Graham Fire & Rescue and Orting Valley Fire & Rescue all have an EMS levy which charges $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and a regular fire levy that charges $1 per assessed property value. These property taxes will all stay in place and will not be impacted by the potential merger.
The districts also have a third funding mechanism, which is the fire-benefit charge. Each of the three districts charge a fee, which Stenstrom said is “assessed on property size, property type, and associated risk factors.” The fire-benefit charge varies by district, but if the merger passes, staff would work to standardize one fee across all of Central Pierce Fire & Rescue.
News Tribune archives contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 8:24 PM.
