History - The Early Years

In 1942, as part of the Federal Government’s Hanford Project, the DuPont Company began providing fire protection from a small station on the southeast corner of George Washington Way and Knight Street. In 1946, when the General Electric Co. took over operations at the Hanford Site, they began operating what was known as the Richland Fire Department.

Richland Fire Department was later established by City Charter in 1958. However, it's official organization date with the State of Washington is March 25, 1959. 

At that time, the fire department was operating out of one station, built in 1952, which is still used as the department's main station on George Washington Way and Swift Blvd. In October of 1958, the City took over management of the department from General Electric, and with federal funds received built two additional fire stations.  Station 2 was located on Wright Avenue, and Station 3 on the corner of Jadwin and McMurray, which was just retired in 2021 after relocating the station.

Although today’s Richland Fire and Emergency Services might look a little different, our commitment to protecting and enhancing the quality of life for the residents of the City of Richland remains the same. The Department now operates out of five fire stations. Each Station is equipped with at least one ambulance and one fire engine along with a specialty apparatus such as a platform, brush, or grass engine. The department has 79 dedicated staff who provide the citizens of Richland with a wide range of emergency services including emergency medical response, fire suppression, hazardous materials response, technical rescue, fire inspections and investigation, fire prevention, and public safety education.

Central fire station (Station 71), built in 1952, located on George Washington Way and Swift Blvd.