CAMAS — The Camas-Washougal Fire Department might look quite different in the upcoming decade.

At last week’s Camas City Council workshop, councilors heard a presentation on a new master plan for the department, including relocation of Station 41, 616 N.E. Fourth Ave., Camas, and Station 43, 1400 A St., Washougal.

Chief Nick Swinhart said the area north of Lacamas Lake is probably the department’s biggest gap.

“It’s not all the way built out yet, but it’s certainly coming,” he said. “In our industry, we live and die by the response times. We’re going to struggle more and more to reach those areas farther out.”

The changes to station locations are needed to help response times, according to the report, which says National Fire Protection Association standards and the Center for Public Safety Excellence accreditation of fire departments both evaluate response time criteria. For low/medium hazard incidents, the first unit should arrive within 4 minutes, and the full assignment should arrive within 8 minutes.

‘Structural gaps’

The report broke recommendations into short-term, midterm and long-term solutions.

“Given the projected growth in population and call volume, (the department) will have structural gaps in place in the response system,” the report reads.