Coburg fire chief warns levies' defeat could slow emergency response
Coburg’s fire chief says two failed levies could leave Lane County communities waiting longer for aid, as volunteer crews and mutual aid networks thin out.
The defeat of two operating levies could ripple well beyond the fire districts that asked for them. In Coburg, Fire Chief Chad Minter warned that as Lane Fire Authority and South Lane County Fire & Rescue lose staffing and money, some Lane County neighborhoods could face longer waits for fire engines, ambulances and backup on medical emergencies, vehicle crashes and fires.
Minter said Coburg Fire Department, which is staffed mainly by volunteer firefighters, already depends on mutual aid from other districts to cover calls. He said that support is becoming harder to sustain because Coburg has also had to reduce the help it sends elsewhere. As surrounding agencies cut back, the system that covers gaps across district lines grows thinner, leaving fewer crews available when multiple incidents happen at once.
Lane Fire Authority serves about 31,000 people across 282 square miles and responds to roughly 7,400 calls a year. About 80% of those calls are EMS-related, so the biggest day-to-day effect of the failed levy may be slower medical response, not just fire coverage. The measure would have raised the district’s levy from 35 cents to 55 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value for five years. The district said a no vote would force a 17% budget reduction, reduce fire and ambulance staffing and increase response times.
South Lane County Fire & Rescue faced a different but equally sharp cut in prospects. Its measure would have doubled the levy from 47 cents to 94 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, paying for up to six new full-time positions and one apprentice and lifting daily staffing from 7 to 10 personnel. The district said the change would have raised about $12.98 million over five years. With the levy defeated, the district is likely to scale back free community events, reduce ambulance service and stop responding to lower-acuity medical calls.
The numbers from the May 19 ballot show the scale of the setback. Lane Fire Authority’s measure was rejected by 53% of voters, and South Lane County Fire & Rescue’s measure was rejected by 60%. South Lane’s defeat came after the same measure failed again in November 2025.
For Lane County residents, the warning from Coburg is practical, not theoretical: when one district has fewer firefighters and another has fewer ambulances, the nearest help may no longer be nearby enough.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
