I have read the recent Express series "State of Emergency" with a lot of interest. As we all know, firefighters share a brotherhood almost unparalleled to any other occupation, having such loyalty, pride and courage. The bonds that tie these members together run deep, especially in their individual departments.
It appears from reading the recent articles that some of the failure of combining or merging departments stems from feelings that the smaller departments might lose their identity or history if merged with a larger department.
I would like to believe that no matter how strong the ties that bond these members to their individual departments, they would all agree that what comes first and foremost is the safety of the citizens of the community. Those safety concerns and the fiscal responsibility to implement them are in the decisions of the elected officials. Those safety concerns do not seem to be the case in the current situation with the Hailey auto-aid agreement. The quickest response possible is not occurring. Does someone need to die in a structure fire in Hailey in order to change that agreement?
If providing the fastest response in an emergency and providing the best fire protection possible to the citizens are the goals, I would like to believe that all fire department members and elected officials would be in favor of such an agreement to reach those goals, regardless of signed petitions, jurisdiction lines or personal preference. Any merger between departments should be based on what is the most efficient, quickest, and safest for the community, not opinions of individual fire department members or elected officials, signed petitions, or news articles.
If there are people who reject such an agreement, then I feel the citizens should question whether public safety is really the goal or if those people have some other agenda.
Emily Watts
Hailey
