Lynch said without the help from other area fire departments there would have been more deaths.
A Dayton Daily News investigation has found that incidents like that fire, in which fire departments rely upon each other for assistance, have skyrocketed as almost every area fire department has reduced its budget and staff. But the inter-reliance, the investigation found, stops at the command staff. All area departments have retained their own chiefs and budgets.
The investigation found that fire departments in the Miami Valley have become entirely dependent on each other to deliver emergency aid as cities have slashed budgets by reducing personnel and shutting down fire stations.
In some cases the cuts in one city have left neighboring taxpayers to subsidize emergency responses for other cities. Calls for assistance — called mutual aid — in fire departments in Moraine, Dayton, Harrison Twp., Clayton and Kettering have doubled or tripled within the last 10 years, according to data provided area fire departments.
Many cities responded to far more incidents outside their jurisdictions than help they received.
Dayton, the region’s largest city, is the biggest beneficiary of mutual aid. The city asked for mutual aid help 1,146 times in 2010, up from 309 times in 2000. Total emergency runs in the city increased from 30,000 to 33,000 over that same period, according to the department’s data.
Dayton crews provided mutual aid to its neighbors 409 times in 2010 and 620 times in 2000.
Local chiefs say the trend is necessary because they have all been cut back.
“The citizens cannot afford to staff a fire department 24/7, 365 days-a-year worth of major incidents, regular incidents and minor incidents ... so we have to rely on each other greatly,” Dayton Fire Chief Herbert Redden said.
There are about 25 fire departments in Montgomery County with budgets ranging from $3.9 million, like in Harrison Twp., to $33.6 million in Dayton.
The fact that many are calling for assistance from each other so routinely is rekindling consideration of a county regional fire department.
Area fire chiefs from Dayton, Huber Heights and Harrison Twp., along with state officials, said a regional fire department would save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in personnel and operational costs for area cities.
Harrison Twp. Chief Lynch said the county’s regional dispatch center would make such a transition easier, but pay scales, unions and turf battles stand in the way.
“Remember there are communities that wouldn’t join regional dispatch because they want to control that,” he said. “I’m sure regionalism will happen, but it will take awhile.”
Need for help unrivaled
Mutual aid is a contract agreement between cities to respond to each other’s medical or fire emergencies if the city in need does not have the necessary equipment or personnel to handle the situation. The agreements have been in place since before the 1960s but the current need for help by area fire departments is unrivaled, area fire officials said.
The amount of mutual aid responses varies depending on emergency. The most common call-out for mutual aid is when a three- to four-man crew is requested for a reported fire or medic run and a supervisor accompanies that unit. If called in from off-duty, the supervisor is paid overtime.
Huber Heights Chief Mark Ashworth said his department “could not survive” without mutual aid because he bases staffing levels on available help from neighboring cities.
Huber Heights asked for mutual aid 305 times in 2010, while providing help to its neighbors 423 times. Ashworth’s crews made 5,232 emergency runs in 2010.
“We are operating below 1997 staffing levels so we need the help,” said Ashworth, who employs 45 sworn firefighters.
Harrison Twp.’s increased reliance on mutual aid is largely due to mutual aid agreements the township signed with Butler Twp. and Clayton since 2005, according to the township’s fire chief Mike Lynch.
Clayton responded to Harrison Twp. 51 times in 2005 and 140 times in 2010, while Butler Twp. responded 53 times in 2005 and 106 times in 2010.
Lynch said he’s maintained his 10- to 11-man staffing levels per shift, but orchestrating 22 full-time and 40 part-time firefighters with a $3.9 million operating budget leaves him vulnerable at times.
“I would say nine times out of 10 we cancel those (mutual aid requests) because we don’t end up needing the help,” he said. “I like to have my bases covered and make sure we have the help if we need it.”
Not every department has increased its need for help.
The city of Riverside asked for mutual aid 143 times in 2010 compared to 252 times in 2000.
Riverside provided help to its neighbors 200 times in 2000 and 2010.
Chief Bob Turner said he reduced his need for mutual aid by adding a few part-time EMTs.
“...(That) allowed us to handle more of our own calls, thus reducing the need for mutual aid,” Turner wrote in an email to the Daily News.
Most on board with regional fire
At the annual Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association (OFCA) conference this summer a representative from Gov. John Kasich’s office encouraged fire departments to regionalize.
It was the first time the governor’s office participated in the event said OFCA president Mike Warner, fire chief of the Concord Twp. Fire Department.
Warner said it sent the message that now is the time to put aside turf battles and share resources.
Warner’s department is part of an eight-city fire alliance that pools resources to purchase equipment like ladder trucks and rescue vans.
He said having a regional dispatch center makes combining resources easier on the community.
“There are still a lot of other issues like personnel (staffing), union issues and fire departments are a source of pride in your community and there is a lot of pride in the departments,” Warner said.
Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesman, said departments in the Miami Valley should consider regionalizing to save taxpayer dollars and begin serious discussions if they haven’t taken place already.
Dayton Chief Herbert Redden said he is not opposed to a regional fire department as long as citizens get the proper emergency response when needed. Ashworth, Lynch and Moraine’s Chief Tony Trick said they are open to the idea.
Local fire union officials said regionalizing is an idea they would support as long as staffing levels remain at proper levels. Jim Cox, president of the International Association of Firefighters Dayton Local 136, said the heads of each fire department are the first roadblock to a regional fire department.
“Everybody is in charge of your own little kingdom so are you willing to give up your kingdom for the betterment of everybody,” Cox said. “But I don’t see a problem with regionalism from a union standpoint.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2494 or lsullivan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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