Posted on Wed, Apr 4, 2012 : 11:43 a.m.
Is a countywide fire department in Washtenaw County's future?
By Steve Pepple
The head of Washtenaw Area Mutual Aid Association sees fire department consolidations as inevitable because of ongoing economic pressures on local governments.
Saline Fire Chief Craig Hoeft, who is president of the WAMAA, told Heritage Newspapers the day may come when there is a countywide fire department.
Hoeft pointed to ongoing consolidation talks between the Scio Township and Dexter Area fire departments to form a regional fire service.
Even without consolidations or mergers, area fire departments are finding more ways to work together, Hoeft said. He cited as example a hazardous materials response team created in 1995 and a technical rescue team established in 2010 through the Mutual Aid Association.
Comments
Craig Lounsbury
Wed, Apr 4, 2012 : 4:32 p.m.
In theory I like the idea. In theory we can cut the "chiefs" and associated overhead and add more responders for the same money. My concern is whether what works in theory gets bungled up in reality.
A2Medic
Wed, Apr 4, 2012 : 8:04 p.m.
It really not uncommon.. There are hundreds of county run fire-rescue departments, especially in Florida and Texas, which has departments that cover large quantities of people and areas much larger than Washtenaw County. Examples: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Pasco County Fire-Rescue, ect..
pseudo
Wed, Apr 4, 2012 : 4:12 p.m.
once again, nobody is doing the leg work and I can't find the info. how many fires/structure by decade from 1920 to now. How many fire fighters per structure by decade until now. And, how many structures in say Ann Arbor for those decades. That will tell the story of what our historical expectations are for fire fighting capacity. and finally, why do all those trucks show up when its a medical call?