Hybrid Fire Department
Four cities in the Salt Lake Valley are consolidating their fire departments - kind of (from the Salt Lake Tribune).
Fire departments in four Salt Lake Valley cities - Sandy, South Jordan, South Salt Lake and West Valley City - are banding together to form the Metro Fire Agency. "It's a hybrid. There's none other like it in the United States," agency spokesman Steve Foote said Tuesday. "We're reconstructing how we deliver service and will achieve a new level of cooperation."The agency differs from Salt Lake County's Unified Fire Authority - which acts as a single fire department serving several municipalities and unincorporated areas - because each of the group's municipal fire departments will retain its autonomy.
"We'll have all the advantages of cooperation, but it still leaves each city in control of its own fire department," said Sandy Fire Chief Don Chase. "The biggest benefit will be sharing."
This sounds almost like mutual aid on steroids. The department will be governed by a board of directors (the mayors) and a board of operations (the chiefs).
We'll have to keep our eye on this one to see if it works out.
