PROSSER -- Prosser Fire District 3 has put together a task force to evaluate the area's level of service.

The task force will use historical data, legislation, equipment and surveys with residents and business owners to make independent recommendations to district officials for long-term planning sometime in March, according to a news release from the fire district.

The group's members will be aided by mHc Associates of Selah, owned by Bob Merritt, brother of the fire district's Chief Doug Merritt. Doug Merritt said the task force members will meet independently of himself and other fire district officials.

The rural fire district is a combination of the Prosser Fire Department and Benton Fire District 3, which covers the city of Prosser and 170 square miles of unincorporated land.