Othello to ask for extension of ACFD 5 contract

OTHELLO — Othello city officials plan to restart conversations with Adams County Fire District 5 on a possible contract to provide fire service for the city. Mayor Ken Johnson said he and Othello City Council members met with ACFD 5 commissioners earlier this month. 

“We asked them for several options for an extension to the current contract, so it would give us time as a new council and (decide) the direction we really want to go on the fire department,” Johnson said. 

Council members voted in 2024 to end the contract between the city and ACFD 5 in May. That followed extensive contract negotiations that eventually went to mediation, which resulted in a multi-phase proposal that included the possibility of the city being annexed into ACFD 5. That was rejected by council members, who voted to start a city fire department instead. 

City officials started advertising for a fire chief and laying some of the groundwork for a fire department. Othello residents elected a new mayor in 2025, however, and a combination of resignations, retirements and election results meant four new council members in addition to the new mayor. During the campaign, Johnson said he was in favor of reviewing the decision to start a municipal fire department.  

Johnson said he expected to get some proposals from the ACFD 5 commissioners –hopefully by week’s end – a council committee would review those, then submit them to the council. Council member Mark Snyder said city officials needed to decide whether or not they will be hiring a fire chief pretty quickly. 

“You can’t even begin to have a fire department without a fire chief,” Snyder said. “You can’t get volunteers (or) do anything.” 

Council member Angel Garza said he thought the opportunity to start a municipal department this year had already passed.  

“I think the only thing to do is get an extension, either to the end of the year or to next April,” Garza said.   

Snyder said he wasn’t advocating meeting the May deadline. But city officials, in his opinion, had to start somewhere.  

“You can’t just keep pushing it off – if we push it off until May, it’s going to get pushed off again and again. We need to get the personnel and start working on it,” Snyder said. 

Johnson said he wanted to wait. 

“If we did that, and as we go down the road (city officials determine) it would be too costly for us to run our own fire department, we’d have to lay (the chief) off,” he said. “I think we need to discuss, as a council, the future of the fire department and the for-sure direction with some good numbers, (and decide) what we really want to do before we start hiring people for a department we don’t even have yet.”  

At the time of the 2024 vote, the city had the option of negotiating a new contract, being annexed into the fire district or starting their own department. Garza said those are still the options. An extension of the existing contract would give council members time to make up their minds, Garza said.  

“It’s too soon right now. We really can’t make a decision,” Garza said. “The best option for us is to go ahead and get a number from them. I’m not saying we’re not going to do our own fire department. I’m saying that at this time, there’s no way we can get set up, be fully staffed and be satisfactory for the city. There’s no way we can do it.” 

City of Othello fire options: 

Othello City Council has voted to start a municipal fire department, but the decision is being reviewed following the 2025 mayoral and city council elections. 

City has an existing contract with Adams County Fire District 5, due to expire in May. City officials have discussed an extension with ACFD 5 commissioners. 

City could sign a new contract with ACFD 5 and continue the existing relationship, or continue establishing its own department. 

The last contract proposal included an option to annex the city into the fire district. That would require a vote.