The Timberlake Fire Protection District (TFPD) is a combination career/volunteer fire department in North Idaho. TFPD was formed in 1999 as the result of a consolidation between the Athol and Bayview Fire Protection Districts. The TFPD, located on the US Highway 95 corridor approximately 15 miles north of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, provides fire, medical response/transport, rescue, first responder hazardous materials responses, and other emergency services. We currently hold an ISO/ISRB rating of Class 4/8.
The District covers an 83 square mile area of Kootenai County, as well as a 30 square mile EMS area in Bonner County, 7 miles north of the county line. The District, with an approximate resident population of 7,000, includes the City of Athol and the surrounding communities of Bayview and Chilco, the latter two being unincorporated. The summer population booms to over 20,000 with visitors. We also provide EMS response to the community of Lakeview (across Lake Pend Oreille) and the adjacent Coeur d'Alene and Kaniksu National Forest s. In total, our EMS response area is approximately 230 square miles.
We protect a variety of areas and hazards within our district including the following:
- Farragut State Park, the largest and busiest state park in Idaho
- U.S. Navy Acoustic Research Detachment at Bayview
- Silverwood Theme Park, the largest theme park in the Pacific Northwest
- Two large lumber mills, Merritt Brothers and Idaho Foresty Products Group Chilco Mill
- BNSF and UP railroads where over 60 trains per day pass through the center of the district including frieght and passenger trains
- U.S. Highway 95, the major north-south corridor through Idaho and the 6th deadliest stretch of highway in the country
- The marinas in Scenic Bay containing over 1,200 boat slips, 102 floating homes, and over 50 other floating structures.
- TransCanada natural gas transmission pipelines running north/south through the center of the TFPD. These are three-foot diameter pipelines that carry over 2.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from Canada to the U.S. This also includes Compressor Station 5.
Coverage for the District area is provided from six fire stations and one boat slip. The main station, located on State Highway 54 in Athol, is staffed with two firefighter/emergency medical technicians (FF/EMT’s) who serve on a 24/7 schedule. They are commanded by a full-time Chief. The two FF/EMT’s cross staff an engine and an ambulance, with at least one of the two on duty trained to the level of Intermediate EMT.
