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Firefighting alliance under way By Buffy Pollock Updated: Jul 11, 2022 07:15 PM A A Fire districts 1, 3 and 4 have formed an alliance to help extend the reach and bolster the efficiency of all three districts Jackson County Fire District No. 3 crews tackle a fire at a Timber Products plant in White City. Fire districts 1, 3 and 4 are banding together to form a fire alliance. [FD3/file photo] Jackson County fire districts 1, 3 and 4 are banding together to expand upon decades of mutual aid that have served patrons of those districts well. Fire District 3 Chief Bob Horton said the districts have agreed to an “intergovernmental agreement” for 12 to 16 months of exploring potential cost and resource saving measures. District 3 serves Central Point, White City and Gold Hill, while Fire District 1 serves the city and area surrounding Rogue River. District 4 serves the Shady Cove area. After decades of successful mutual aid, Horton said, District 1 reached out to his district. “They said, ‘Hey, we’re neighbors. What do you think of partnering in some delivery of services?” Horton said. “It’s always been part of our strategic plan to find ways to build partnerships to essentially improve efficiency in how we serve our community. We all felt like it was a great time to invite everyone to the table.” Horton said the Rogue Valley Fire and Rescue Alliance is composed of fire chiefs from each of the three districts, two board members from each district and a strategic adviser to help guide the process. Sharing boundaries on the north end of the county, all three districts had provided mutual aid for decades, so the alliance will expand on existing efforts. “We all have the same governance model, a board and fire chief, the same risk profiles more or less, and we’re all one big wildland-urban interface area. These districts are more alike than they’re different.” Horton said potential resource sharing could include shared administrative positions, training and recruitment, bulk purchasing and even a central warehouse facility. “There’s probably a lot a duplication of efforts among three like-size districts, so we’re excited to find opportunities for cost savings and collaborations that will make all three districts even stronger.” Horton said the alliance was not unlike the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, which facilitates shared resources and provides a slew of services for local municipalities. Horton said some services could overlap, while one district may contract to provide needed services for another. One example of cost-saving via avoiding duplication, Horton said, is that districts 1 and 4 already own water rescue boats, while District 3 has only a raft. On the flip side, District 3 has a ladder truck, whereas the Rogue River district does not. “Shady Cove and Rogue River have emergency rescue boats. The (Jackson County) Sheriff’s Department has an emergency rescue boat. Fire District 3 considered purchasing one in the last year or two, and it was kind of a head-scratcher for us,” Horton said. “If we’re all on those kinds of calls together, that’s a lot of boats. What if we need something else that ... would be a boost for all of us? How much better could we provide service if they show up with the boat and we show up with swimmers and a drone?” Jim Stearns, vice president of the Rogue River Fire District 1 board, said the alliance would provide for a constant flow of ideas and collaboration. “I’m sure there are going to be benefits we come up with that haven’t even been thought of yet. We all just are excited to kind of explore the possibilities and make sure that we’re doing the best we can to utilize the tax dollars that are entrusted to us, and that we’re providing the best possible service we can provide,” Stearns said. “We’re all very proud of the organizations that we have but want to make sure we’re doing the best job we can do. The three districts already work very closely together, very often on the same scene. It makes sense to standardize equipment so that we know each other’s equipment will be the same. Same with training. Why not invest in training so we’re all doing things the same way? We’re working together, shouldn’t we all be training together?” Adam Hanks, strategic adviser for the alliance, and a consultant for District 3, said the alliance was a smart way to build on what was already a great team spirit between neighboring districts. The alliance could grow to accomplish even more in coming years, if things pan out. “These are three districts have a really solid history of operational partnerships,” he said. Forming an official alliance just helps put things on a higher level. Through this alliance, we can bring a more diverse set of tools as a group than we could have with all our own tools individually.” Horton said community forums would be planned, and the various processes would solicit input from various district patrons. “Each of the three districts will maintain their autonomy and identity, and the ability to define service for their own districts,” Horton said. “And we’ll explore the ways that we can minimize duplication in a way that helps all of us work better together and to better serve our individual districts.” He added, “Once we started thinking about the opportunities to collaborate on a deeper level, we all just felt like, ‘How did it take us so long to look at this?’” A planned website (rvfra.com) is expected to be live sometime in August. Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 541-776-8784 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.