MADISON, Wis. — City officials introduced a resolution letting fire departments examine the costs and benefits of dispatching fire crews across municipal lines.
Under border dropping, Madison Fire Department crews could be sent to neighboring jurisdictions, and neighboring jurisdictions could be sent to respond to Madison incidents, WKOW reported.
“In 2013, we reached an agreement to provide fire protection to the Village of Shorewood, and we are now providing a higher-quality service with equivalent or better response times,” Mayor Paul Soglin said. “We are currently finalizing an agreement to do the same for the Town of Blooming Grove. This is the next logical step.”
The mayor’s office said Fire Chief Steve Davis requested authority to pursue a study of border dropping.
Chief Davis noted some of the criteria that would need to be met:
- Minimum staffing level of four fully trained firefighters per engine/ladder/squad fire apparatus responding.
- Staffing will need to be in-station ready (staffed in house) to respond 24/7/365 days.
- Minimum training requirements of State of Wisconsin Certified Firefighter levels 1 and 2.
- All personnel responding will need proof of annual NFPA medical exams.
- All personnel will need ongoing annual training plans.
- All personnel responding will need annual company and personal fitness/job performance standards.
- Develop response time parameters for identifying the closest unit.
- Utilize the Automated Vehicle Locator (AVL) for the computer-aided dispatch system to locate the closest vehicle.
“Public safety is the most basic job of government,” Soglin said. “Border drops offer an opportunity offer even better protection, but and we must ensure that we are not short changing our citizens.”