Tight budgets have led to serious talk about possible consolidation of eight emergency fire and medical service agencies in southern Blaine County. In many cases, their service areas overlap. The longtime goal of some has been to find a way to combine them in a manner that saves money and improves services.
A new study of consolidation might just do that.
"We are doing this because it's been talked about for a long time and no one has taken the next step," said Hailey Mayor Rick Davis. "We want to find out if it will save us money, or cost us more money, instead of just jumping in together."
Five proposals from independent consultants, ranging in cost from $40,000 to $60,000, have been received by the various agencies involved. The proposals will be ranked prior to an April "fire summit" meeting to decide how, or if, to fund the study.
A similar study was conducted in 2006 to judge whether consolidation of the Sun Valley and Ketchum fire departments would be cost effective. The cities decided not to consolidate structurally, but, based on the study, moved closer to functional consolidation.
"We hired a new inspector, added new software and moved closer together with regard to EMT response," said Sun Valley Fire Chief Jeff Carnes. "Structural consolidation would have cost us more money. Functionally, we are consolidated in terms of training together and going to fires together."
If pursued, the south county study would inventory current emergency and firefighting services and compare the current situation to two alternatives: forming a single, consolidated service provider or following a new model proposed by the consultant.
The agencies involved range in size from the Carey Rural Fire District to the much larger Hailey Fire Department and Wood River Fire & Rescue.
Bellevue City Councilman Shaun Mahoney questioned on Thursday the necessity of hiring a "high-priced consultant" to tell the various agencies what should be done.
"We already know consolidation is a good idea. I don't see why the fire chiefs can't just work it out," he said. "The key is between Hailey Fire and Wood River Fire & Rescue, who have not been the best of friends, despite the fact that there is only 50 feet between the stations."
Wood River Fire & Rescue and the Hailey Fire Department have facilities side by side on Third Avenue in Hailey.
"We have fire district commissioners who feel the same way about the expense," said Wood River Fire & Rescue Chief Bart Lassman in an interview. "But sometimes a third-party study can be very important. The document could be used even under a new set of public officials."
Hailey has plans to build a new fire station on Countryside Boulevard in Woodside subdivision to serve the population in the south end of town.
Hailey Fire Chief Mike Chapman said that station could possibly be used by both Wood River Fire & Rescue and Hailey Fire Department personnel.
"Right now, we have three stations within three blocks, which is silly. Nothing is off the table," he said.
Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com
A Wood River Fire & Rescue station sits yards away from a Hailey Fire Department station, background, on Third Avenue in Hailey.
Photo by David N. Seelig
