Courtesy photo.
FLAGSTAFF — The city of Flagstaff’s Fire Department has entered an automatic aid consortium with the Summit Fire and Medical District and the Highlands Fire District. Under this consortium, the participants have agreed to act as one operational entity for the purpose of improved fire/rescue/emergency medical services and improved firefighter safety. The basis of the agreement is that the closest most appropriate fire service resource will be dispatched regardless of jurisdictional boundaries.
“Entering into this automatic aid consortium with our partners Highlands and Summit will be incredibly beneficial to all of our respective residents,” said Mayor Coral Evans. “Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen and improve service to those in need.”Automatic Aid is often cited as the gold standard for an emergency service delivery model. The model provides added value for smaller and larger agencies. Larger agencies such as Flagstaff benefit by having additional units capable of responding to multiple single unit responses that occur in the City. The smaller agencies (Highlands and Summit) benefit by having additional units capable of responding to large incidents that occur in their districts.
“This automatic aid intergovernmental agreement is the natural next step for the Highlands Fire District in our goal to enhance participation in regional fire service. We already train together, attend the same fire academy, and work together hiring quality people” said Highlands Fire District Board Chair, Pete Kloeber and Summit Fire Board Chair, Jim Doskocil. “Now we will be dispatched as one fire service agency without any partner agencies having to first ask for assistance,” stated.
The following elements are central to the successful operation of this consortium:
- A central dispatch center with shared tactical radio channels. All three participants are currently dispatched by the City of Flagstaff Regional Fire Dispatch Center (Dispatch Center).
- A shared set of standard operational procedures (SOPs). The three entities have developed joint SOPs for high hazard operations to include shared incident management SOPs.
- Common training for firefighters and command officers. The participants have been participating in joint company level training for approximately five years and have participated in regional recruit fire training academies for three years. Additionally, each of the agency’s command officers have all been trained and certified under the Blue Card incident management system.