SREC Issues Formal Termination of Emergency Communications Services for Spokane Fire Department Following Exhaustive Resolution Efforts
Spokane, WA – June 26, 2025 – After more than seven years of working with the City of Spokane and nearly 18 months of focused engagement with Mayor Lisa Brown’s current administration, Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC) has delivered formal notice of service termination for the Spokane Fire Department (SFD). This initiates a six-month transition period for the city to establish its own services, as required under the existing contract. This decision follows the conclusion of mediation efforts which did not result in a sustainable resolution.
SREC entered the mediation process with the sincere goal of maintaining a strong, long-term partnership. However, the inability to resolve differences, along with the City’s continued pursuit of separation, left SREC no path forward under the shared regional model. As the voters desired in 2017, SREC committed significant time, resources, and expertise to building a regional model of emergency communications designed to deliver the highest quality service to all citizens of Spokane County. SREC’s staff and board met in good faith with City officials across multiple administrations, participated in mediation, and collaborated closely with two independent consultants retained by the City.
“We have consistently provided information, responded to every request, and even directly supported the City’s consultants in their work,” said Lori Markham, Executive Director of SREC. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it has become clear that the City desires local control over its dispatch services and is no longer interested in being part of a fully regionalized, shared model built for efficiency and public safety.”
Throughout this process, it became clear that the City of Spokane was unwilling to fully embrace the regionalized model established in 2018. Despite having more voting members on the SREC Board than any other single agency, the City proposed substantial changes to the current SREC shared governance structure, claiming it was not adequate to represent the City’s needs and financial oversight responsibilities.
Experts Closest to the Work Are Best Positioned to Govern
As the only primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in the greater Spokane area, SREC’s enabling bylaws require the Board of Directors be made up of experts in emergency services representing all participating agencies. In the opinion of the SREC Board, the City’s suggested changes to the governance model conflicted with the collaborative, countywide model designed to serve all agencies equitably and efficiently—one that was purposely designed to remove politics and prioritize public safety.
SREC’s regional PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) serves 20 agencies across Spokane County and was created to eliminate redundancy, reduce costs, and enhance inter-agency coordination during emergencies. The decision by the City to establish its own PSAP will result in duplicative infrastructure and increased operational costs borne by City residents — a path that diverges from national best practices and regional cooperation.
Chief Cody Rohrbach, SREC Board Chair and Fire Chief for Spokane County Fire District 3, emphasized: “The SREC Board and staff have invested significant time and resources to fostering a successful partnership with the city of Spokane. We are proud of the progress we’ve made regionally. At this point, we must shift fully to supporting our 20 member agencies who remain committed to collaboration. Our focus moving forward is on strengthening regional resilience and advancing our strategic vision for unified high-performing 911 service across Spokane County.”
Financial Accountability and Efficiency
Brad Richmond, Chief of Police, Airway Heights and SREC Board Vice Chair further added, “SREC takes its responsibility to steward taxpayer dollars seriously. We’ve maintained a balanced budget, received clean audits from the State Auditor three cycles running, and have purposefully planned ahead for critical investments like a new CAD system and facility to serve the region for decades—fully aligned with our strategic plan published in 2021. These facts demonstrate that our budgeting approach is rooted in accountability, long-term vision, and a commitment to minimizing financial impact on the public.”
City of Spokane Employs Highly Capable Dispatchers
The City of Spokane employs highly skilled dispatchers for the Spokane Police Department (SPD) and is fully capable of expanding those operations to include fire dispatch. When SREC assumed full dispatch responsibilities for the Spokane Fire Department, it did so with two months’ notice amidst SFD’s own critical staffing crisis. Despite these challenges, SREC successfully managed the transition—proving the process is both realistic and achievable.
A Regional Model Built on Collaboration and Efficiency
The regional PSAP model supported by SREC was launched five years ago with strong state endorsement and a clear mandate: to streamline emergency response, reduce duplication, and improve coordination across jurisdictions. With 20 participating agencies throughout Spokane County, the model has delivered measurable benefits in interoperability, cost savings, and response outcomes.
Commitment to Spokane County’s Broader Safety Network
SREC’s mission remains unchanged. The agency continues to deliver uninterrupted, best-in-class emergency communications to the 20 agencies served. SREC continues to encourage open, transparent dialogue around the future of emergency communications. The public deserves clarity on how their tax dollars are spent, what the long-term implications of redundancy may be, and how to preserve effective emergency service.
About Spokane Regional Emergency Communications
Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC) is a regionalized emergency response communications organization formed in 2018 as a Public Development Authority. Located in Spokane, Washington, SREC serves more than 550,000 citizens throughout the county as the primary PSAP for the region. In addition to answering emergency and non-emergency calls, SREC provides Fire and Law Dispatch services to 14 local Fire Protection Authorities and 7 local Law Enforcement Agencies in Spokane County. These services span more than 1,700 miles, and include management of more than 4,900 radios, 23 tower sites, and a backup center. SREC also writes reports for most of the law enforcement agencies in the region. We currently employ approximately 147 employees across the organization. Our mission is to get the right resources to the right location with an uncompromising focus on responder and citizen safety.
This Spokane County Sheriff Office news article "SREC Issues Formal Termination of Emergency Communications Services for Spokane Fire Department" was originally found on https://www.spokanecounty.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?CID=7