Reciprocity is a term that is used to describe several things. What it means to Newman Lake Fire & Rescue is the ability to give back to our community partners after benefiting from many years of service and shared resources. Partners such as Spokane Valley Fire, Hauser Lake Fire, Kootenai Fire and Spokane Fire Department provide back up or mutual aid services for fire and rescue responses and have supported our community for many years. An example is that having full-time paid coverage around the clock in neighboring Spokane Valley Fire, their resources can often arrive at the same time as our volunteer/on call resources to provide service assistance. Spokane Fire Department has for many years allowed us to use their training areas for little to no cost to Newman Lake Fire & Rescue or its citizens. Reciprocating in kind, we are allowing them to use our training area. It’s just good partnership.
Having a training facility on our own property, we are saving substantial costs with reduced travel as well as less wear and tear on our apparatus. When you need all personnel to train, having this facility in our own district keeps our firefighters available for emergency response rather than responding from a training facility outside our district. It also offers the opportunity for our members to be able to train to an extremely high level. This benefits the community by having a fire department prepared.
So again, reciprocity is being able to share our resources and facilities as our neighboring departments have shared with us. We want to continue to grow and strengthen these relationships with our partner agencies. Opportunities to work with them and allowing them to train in Newman Lake is a privilege. Ultimately, reciprocity is our way of giving back many years of support that has been shown to the department and our community as a whole.