Copyright 2006 Chattanooga Publishing Company
By MATT ANDERSON
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
In a region where growth ignores city, county and state lines, fire stations pop up in clusters.
Stations in Walker County, Ga.; Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.; and East Ridge, Tenn., stand within a few miles’ radius. In Dalton, Ga., a city fire station is on a county road.
A former Chattanooga fire chief says that’s just politics standing between taxpayers and the best possible service.
“It should-n’t matter whose name is on that firetruck,” George Spencer said. "(The taxpayer) wants service. He couldn’t care less whose name is on it. The worst thing to do is say, ‘That’s outside my jurisdiction. You’ll have to notify somebody else.’”
Current fire chiefs say that doesn’t happen, but Mr. Spencer said those who don’t believe it should “just listen to a scanner.” He said different departments should bury the hatchet, stop protecting their turf and pool their resources.
In many cases, departments do combine resources, according to Whitfield County Fire Chief Carl Collins.
Whitfield County’s fire department runs about 10 calls per month with the Dalton Fire Department, he said, although the two remain separate. Whoever gets to the scene first takes command, Chief Collins said.
“The only argument we have is (over) who’s going to do the paperwork,” he said.
Most area fire departments, other than Chattanooga’s, are members of the Tri-State Mutual Aid Association, which provides for fire departments to come to each others’ assistance despite having to cross city, county or state lines.
Officials say that despite that pact, a fire station near a political boundary line does not affect insurance rates across the line, because the Insurance Services Organization only gives credit if the two stations are on the same radio frequency.
The agreement comes in handy when one department has equipment another department needs, according to Bradley County Fire Chief and Tri-State Mutual Aid Association President Dewey Woody. Mr. Woody said the clusters make sense, because one jurisdiction shouldn’t depend on another for safety.
“What happens when that other agency you’ve been depending on is not available?” Mr. Woody said.
The solution for cities and counties is consolidation, Mr. Spencer contended. He served 30 years in the Chattanooga Fire Department and remains active in the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
Current chiefs say the question of whether to consolidate services rests with the city councils and county commissions who decide those matters, not the departments themselves.
Chief Collins said consolidation has been a recurring question in Whitfield County. Merging the Dalton and Whitfield County fire departments would be easy compared to other departments, because the personnel already work together frequently.
Mr. Woody said, with the right formula, merging could save Bradley County taxpayers money, but the decision is up to elected officials.
“There’s a lot of competing interests in any type of merger,” said Kevin Lauer, a fire consultant with the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Assistance Service. “A lot of these folks, they’ve put many hours and years into it, and it’s hard to hand over something that you’ve got so much work put into.”