Fire districts worked together prior to approval of merger

JIM CARLILE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Wednesday, February 6, 2002

THURSTON COUNTY -- Voters approved a merger of fire districts in Rochester and Grand Mound, enabling them to save money and improve efficiency, according to fire officials.

"One of our key slogans that we used early on is: If there's an emergency, does it matter what side of the district the help comes from? Does it matter what color the fire truck is?" District 1 Fire Chief Robert Scott said.

The merger passed with about 78 percent of voters supporting it. About 12,000 people live in District 1 in the Rochester area, and about 6,000 people live in District 14 in Grand Mound.

"One big concern people have is ... people want to know what this is going to do to their taxes. Really, it's not going to do anything," Scott said. "All this does is allow us to legally join our administrations as one."

The two fire districts have been working together for about a year, and Scott said they're more efficient than ever.

"We've been doing it to make sure it worked logistically, operationally and financially," he said.

Since working together, response time has been cut from about 12 minutes to less than eight minutes, Scott said.

Because it is working, the merger will allow the two districts so they can start saving on insurance and other costs, Scott said.

Merging the districts also means firefighters can train together, district officials can plan together, administrative work can be combined to cut down on duplication and some costs can be shared, District 14 Fire Chief Roger Stone said.

Jim Carlile covers crime and public health for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or jcarlile@olympia. gannett.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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