By Tristan Navera
Dayton Daily News
MIAMISBURG, Ohio — When the Miami Valley Fire District came online Monday, it ushered in an era of cooperation officials say will mean faster emergency service and money saved.
The district combines the fire services of the city of Miamisburg and Miami Twp., and it will mean shared resources and more cooperation between the two fire departments.
“This has been in the works for six years,” said Ann Lisa Rucker, a member of the district’s board of trustees. “A lot of people have been involved with it over the course of that time.”
Matthew Queen, who had been with the Miami Twp. Fire Department since 1991, has been tapped as the fire chief. Queen was not available for comment.
“We identified that there were ways we could collaborate together and provide better services,” said Greg Hanahan, administrator of Miami Twp. “We want to save money, not so much immediately, but control costs in the future by sharing resources and eliminating redundancy.”
Hanahan noted, for example, that Miami Twp. is in the process of buying a $750,000 to $800,000 ladder truck, which it can share with Miamisburg. Miamisburg’s current ladder truck will be a backup and won’t need to be replaced.
No jobs have been lost from the merge, Hanahan said, but he noted some positions will disappear through attrition as positions are eliminated. He noted, for example, Miamisburg’s recently retired fire chief won’t need to be replaced.
Hanahan said the move will also allow the new district to reposition its fire stations. Station 53 in downtown Miamisburg will be cohabitated by firefighters from both departments, and all firefighters in the departments will standardize their equipment.
“Overall response time has been good, but before, (Miami Twp.) firefighters would sometimes drive past Miamisburg fire stations on calls, and that doesn’t make a lot of sense.” Hanahan said.
Many of the stations are old, and weren’t designed for 24 hours of operations. Others that aren’t being fully manned may be merged. Hanahan said the next step is to bring in a firm to conduct a study to determine how to best position the fire stations.
“The only difference our residents should see is better service,” Hanahan said. “There’s going to be better response time.”
Copyright 2012 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.