Lewis County Fire Districts 5 and 6 have both filed lawsuits against the City of Chehalis and Lewis County on claims that the jurisdictions denied the fire agencies the opportunity to engage in the statutory annexation process.
The fire departments state in their complaints filed in Lewis County Superior Court last month that they are entitled to a writ of prohibition, declaratory judgment and injunctive relief.
The Chehalis City Council approved its end of the annexation interlocal agreement with the county on Nov. 24, 2025, while the Lewis County Board of Commissioners passed its side on Dec. 2, 2025.
Lewis County Fire District 6’s (LCFD6) complaint was filed the day after the county commissioners’ approval, while Lewis County Fire District 5’s (LCFD5) was filed two days after the vote.
Lewis County Fire Districts 5 and 6 claim that if the attempted annexation of the Chehalis urban growth area to the south of the city is accomplished, the fire departments will see damages financially and to its level of service. LCFD5 would lose 16% of its assessed value, while LCFD6 would 24% of its assessed value, according to court documents.
Additionally, the fire departments claim that they would lose a portion of their current tax base. LCFD5 would be subject to potentially being required to transfer up to 14% of its assets to the city, and LCFD6 may have to transfer up to 24%, court documents state.
Both agencies say that their service areas would be split by the annexation and would result in decreased efficiency in their response times.
“The annexation would create impractical boundaries with Plaintiff being required to travel through Defendant City to serve certain properties and individuals within Plaintiff’s service area,” the fire departments wrote in their complaints.
The agencies noted that they would lose their statutory right to negotiate an ILA to mitigate the impacts of the annexation on their taxpayers, residents and business owners both within and outside the annexation area.
Although both fire departments gave written notice to the city of their desire to participate in the annexation process in a timely manner, they also notified the city “on multiple occasions” of their objection to the attempted annexation due to concerns regarding services and their exclusion from the statutory process.
“Defendants have declined and/or denied Plaintiff’s requests to participate in the annexation process of the subject area serviced by Plaintiff,” the fire departments wrote. “Specifically, Defendants have denied Plaintiff’s request to participate in the negotiation of an interlocal agreement as required by statute.”
LCFD5 and LCFD6 claim that the defendants have failed to comply with the requirements of Washington state RCW 35A.14.296 and 35A.14.472, are beyond their legal power and authority, and are void for illegality due to their failure to follow the statutory process. In doing so, the city and the county, according to the fire departments, have acted in bad faith in the annexation process.
The departments cite RCW 35A.14.296, which states in part that if a code city is proposing to annex territory to include areas in a fire protection district, the code city must provide written notice to the governing authority. The notified district shall have 30 calendar days from the date of the notice to provide written notice of its interest in being a party to the ILA.
“If timely notice is provided, such…district shall be included as a party to the interlocal agreement. If the…district does not approve the interlocal agreement, the annexation may not proceed under this section,” the RCW states.
The City of Chehalis provided both fire departments written notice of its intent to annex by letter dated Sept. 18, 2025. LCFD6 claims it provided timely written notice dated Oct. 15, 2025, that it was interested in being a party to the ILA negotiations. While LCFD5 did not provide a specific date of written notice, it said its written notice was given in a timely and appropriate manner.
Both fire departments noted that they believe the city “lacks adequate resources to service individuals and/or property within the area currently serviced by Plaintiff that is at issue in the proposed annexation.” They also claimed that individuals and businesses services by the two agencies may be required to pay higher taxes if the annexation is successful “in order to maintain the tax revenues relied upon by Plaintiff to provide fire protection and emergency medical services.”
LCFD6 commissioner Greg Greene told the Chehalis City Council Nov. 24, 2025, and the Lewis County Commissioners Dec. 2, 2025, that the fire district was prepared to take legal action against the city and the county to get them to adhere to statutory obligations.
“We do not support this annexation as it will have significant financial impact to the fire district and will likely result in decreased services within the annexation area,” Greene said during the council meeting. “Those issues could have been addressed if the city complied with the statutory requirements. We believe the proposed annexation, as currently presented, is illegal and should not be approved by the council.”
Chehalis City Manager Stacy Denham said during that meeting that it was “unfortunate” to hear of the pending litigation, given that the Chehalis Fire Department, LCFD5 and LCFD6 had been working toward joint operations. The three departments established a cooperative committee to discuss an interlocal agreement for the functional consolidation of fire and emergency services across the region. The city has long been in favor of a future merger of the three agencies.
“I was hoping that things were going to be progressing with Fire District 6. Now that [Greene] has mentioned that their motivations are to file legal action against the city, that’s unfortunate because it does tend to strain the relationship between Chehalis and District 6 yet again. It’s the exact thing we were working to avoid. However, we do have a plan in place in order to stand up our fire department. Will money be tight? Absolutely, it will be, just like it’s tight for Fire District 6 and just like Fire District 5.”
LCFD5 and LCFD6 are both represented by John Kesler III and Colin Meenk of the law firm of Bean, Gentry, Wheeler & Peternell, PLLC. The City of Chehalis is represented by Kevin Nelson and Daniel Murray, and Lewis County is represented by David Bailey and Karin Phomma.
