Seven cities in Salt Lake County are forming a fire agency that they say will increase their efficiency, while cutting costs.
The Metro Fire Agency initially will include the Sandy, West Valley, South Jordan and South Salt Lake Fire Departments. Murray, West Jordan and Midvale are expected to join soon, according to Sandy Fire Chief Don Chase.
"We're trying to keep the autonomy of the cities but share services at a much different scale than ever before," he said.
The the new agency will be in addition to the Unified Fire Authority, which includes the unincorporated cities of Salt Lake County. Salt Lake City also retains its own fire department.
The departments that now will be part of the Metro Fire Agency said it made more financial sense to form a new agency rather than join UFA.
Each city in the MFA will develop specialties. For example, the Sandy Fire Department's specialty will be hazardous materials incidents, heavy rescues and mass casualty equipment. The Murray Fire Department will specialize in swift-water rescue. West Valley will specialize in bomb and explosive incidents, and South Jordan will respond to cave and trench rescues. South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote said that this way each city doesn't have to spend money on the specialized equipment and training it takes for each service.
"We're hoping that's where the big savings come in," Chase said.
The agency will have a board of trustees, but the mayors and city councils of each city will still have control over their fire-fighting budgets.
The UFA can tax residents for services, but MFA cities will still have to go to voters for approval before making major purchases.
UFA Chief Don Berry described the Metro Fire Agency as the "same idea, different method" as the Unified Fire Authority.
"Any kind of regional look at fire protection is a good thing," he said. "As far as the way we look at fighting, any effort to regionalize and take a look at the bigger picture is a good thing rather than each city concentrating on its own abilities or boundaries."
Berry noted that all fire departments in Salt Lake County, whether they be from the MFA, UFA or Salt Lake City, are part of a valleywide alliance that meets regularly.
"We're all in this together," he said. "I think everybody is kind of going in that direction (to regionalize), there are just different ways of getting there."
Fire departments in the MFA cities started collaborating after several large fires left fire chiefs wondering how their service could improve, Foote said.
"Cities were very territorial," he said. "It doesn't matter what city delivers a service. If someone calls, our mission is to get the help to them as quickly as we can in a manner that's professional."
Residents won't notice a difference in initial responses. Chase said when someone calls 911, the same "seamless" agreement between all fire agencies in the valley is still in effect, meaning the closest unit will respond. After firefighters are able to assess a situation, that's when specialized units can be called. Chase compared it to a patient going to a general practitioner first and then being sent to a specialist.
"Firefighting has become much more complex than ever before. You have to be able to do all of those things and it's hard to specialize in all that," Chase said. "What (residents) will see from this is some of the best cooperation as far as sharing of services."
For now each department with the MFA will keep its city name on its uniforms and trucks. Chase said a Metro Fire Agency logo might eventually be added. --> Foote and Chase said that there could eventually be one fire agency that includes both the MFA, UFA and Salt Lake City Fire Departments.
Right now, however, Foote said his group's research of other cities has shown a complete consolidation of departments actually results in a fewer firefighters in each city. He said that was one reason Taylorsville and Draper decided to form their own police forces rather than contract with Salt Lake County.
"Down the road (consolidation) may happen, but politically we're concerned right now that loss of local control will result in (being) out of control," Foote said. "We're not going to say goodbye to our fire department."
A press conference officially announcing the new Metro Fire Agency is scheduled for Nov. 2.
Contributing: Kersten Swinyard.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com