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For many years, the fire protection
systems of Eugene and Springfield have
cooperated under an automatic aid
agreement. This made sense
operationally considering the proximity
of the response areas. In 2007, the
relationship was formalized under what
is now called the 3-Battalion System.
A battalion is a group of suppression
companies (in Eugene-Springfield's case,
five or six companies). Eugene Fire &
EMS has the equivalent of two battalions
while Springfield Fire & Life Safety has
one. The combined cities, seen as a
single response area, are served by
three battalions.
The 3-Battlion System disregards the
geopolitical boundary between the
jurisdictions, instead employing
dispatch protocols ensuring that the
nearest appropriate response resources
are sent to the location of an
emergency, no matter whether they are
Eugene units, Springfield units, or a
combination.
By working together on a routine
basis, Eugene and Springfield crews have
developed familiarity with each other's
personnel, equipment, and procedures.
In fact, a common set of Standard
Operating Procedures, called Metro SOPs,
is in the process of being written,
which will further ensure metro-wide
procedural consistency.
Implemented at practically no cost
other than the renumbering of some
stations and equipment, the 3-Battalion
System has paid dividends not only in
direct emergency response, but also in
system backup, as units from either
jurisdiction can be moved so as to
provide safe coverage metro-wide in the
event that many units are committed to a
major emergency at a single location. |
In 2009, the two departments
commissioned a study by the emergency
services consulting firm ESCI of
Portland. The consultants were asked to
study whether greater service efficiency
and/or taxpayer cost savings could be
realized through further collaboration.
The consultants' report can be reviewed
here (allow time for download). The
study concluded not only that continued
cooperation would be advisable, but that
in fact circumstances were favorable for
a merger of the departments, which would
lead to significant (at least
six-figure) taxpayer savings per year.
These savings would be realized by
consolidating several leadership
positions where one or the other
department had -- or would soon have --
a vacancy that could be left unfilled in
a merger scenario. Those positions
included the Chief of Department, Fire
Marshal, Operations Chief, and Training
Chief.
The initial steps in functional
consolidation are taking place during
the spring of 2010. The Springfield
Fire Marshal and some Fire
Prevention personnel will move to
Eugene's Fire Prevention office at the
Downtown Fire Station; Eugene's
ambulance billing staff will join
Springfield's at Springfield City Hall;
and Springfield training staff,
including the Training Chief, will move
to Eugene Fire headquarters at 2nd &
Chambers.
Springfield Fire & Life Safety Chief
Dennis Murphy has announced his
retirement effective July 1, 2010.
Eugene Fire & EMS Chief Randy Groves
will assume command over the
consolidated department at that time.
Chief Groves will participate as a
member of both cities' Executive
Management Teams, and will report to
both City Managers. |
Ultimately, the ESCI study recommends
that fire suppression and emergency
medical response services for Eugene and
Springfield be provided and funded
independently of the cities, through the
formation of a special taxing district,
or annexation to an existing one. This
is one possible long-term outcome.
Another possibility would be the
permanent establishment of an
intergovernmental agency structured
similarly to the Metropolitan Wastewater
Management Commission. Fire services
are provided in this fashion in
Livermore and Pleasanton, Calif.,
and elsewhere in the U.S.
Formation of an intergovernmental
agency could be accomplished by action
of the City Councils and the Lane County
Board of Commissioners. It is also
possible that one or more abutting fire
service agencies could seek to be
included. Issues of funding equity
would need to be addressed.
District models for providing fire
and emergency medical services have been
highly successful in Oregon (e.g.,
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue) and
other states, but their formation is
inevitably controversial as it entails a
departure from the general-purpose
government and related questions
regarding tax equity and accountability
to the public.
Formation of a new taxing district,
or annexation to an existing one, would
require an affirmative vote of the
taxpayers affected. Although this is
the course recommended by the
consultants, and although the district
model has been successful elsewhere, it
will be a matter of years before the
formal question is put to voters, if at
all. For more information, or to voice
your opinion, call 541-682-7118 or
e-mail firedept@ci.eugene.or.us. |
