If you are a Bonner County resident living within the Northside
Fire District (see
this District Map), your home, property, and family are
protected by members of the Northside Fire Department.
Northside Fire District covers an area of approximately 115 square
miles in the northern and western portions of the county. About
10,000 people live within the Fire District, and many more pass
through every day as they travel on Highway 95 and SH 200, or
visit the many businesses located in and around Ponderay. It's a
busy place filled with tourists, shoppers, and families who call
it home.
As the area has grown, so has Northside Fire District. Started in
1961 as a Fire Association, the District today consists of a full
time Chief and Assistant Chief, 23 volunteers, three Fire
Commissioners, four fire stations, and 14 pieces of apparatus. The
vehicles include everything from fire trucks that carry
2,500 gallons of water and can pump 1,250 gallons per minute to
small apparatus used to carry extrication equipment or attack
wildland fires.
In addition to fire protection Northside Fire District is involved
in a wide variety of operations including EMS, vehicle
extrication, rope rescue, fire prevention programs, along with
many tasks most residents don't see, like fire hydrant testing,
hose testing, vehicle maintenance, building inspections, sprinkler
and alarm testing, plan reviews burn permits, and a continuous
training program for the firefighters who volunteer as part of
their commitment to community service.
The Northside Commissioners, Chief, and men and women of the Fire
Department are people who live and work here just like you. They
are part of a community that is dedicated to providing the best
possible protection for its residents. They are on call 24 hours
every day. They are "Your Fire Department."
- Fire Chief Brad Mitton
There are few places like Lake
Pend Oreille, the northern parts of the region above Sandpoint,
Ponderay, Kootenai, the Selle Valley and our parts of Bonner
County, Idaho. Along what many travel writers have named one of
the most beautiful drives in the world, it is the quintessential
picturesque, Idaho small community.
