The Chief's Corner
with Chardon Fire Chief Larry Gaspar
June, 2006
"Consolidation"
One of the newest buzz words running through the fire service these days,
as well as the political arenas, is actually an old word to us at the Chardon
Fire Department. The word “consolidation” has been spoken about a lot lately,
especially in
Cuyahoga
County
, with a strong emphasis on consolidating fire services. The word definitions
says it means "to bring together as one".
By this definition, then, the
Chardon Fire Department has been "consolidated" since 1877, when it
started. At that time, and well into the 1950’s, the department covered
all of
Geauga
County
County
. As smaller areas in the county established fire departments, Chardon was
usually second due into these areas, and still responds as part of a county
mutual aid pact (M.A.B.A.S. - Mutual Aid Box Alarm System).
The fire service it seems is
always the first service viewed when public officials look to start saving
money, or in other word, "cut spending". How can we buy cheaper
equipment, cut staffing and still provide the same excellent service? Your guess
is as good as mine.
The Chardon Fire Department today
is consolidated in the form of the area that the department covers. The
department provides fire and rescue protection to the City of
Chardon
,
Chardon
Township,
and
Claridon
Township
. All entities pay into one service, with the ability to provide 24 hour,
staffed fire and paramedic protection service, seven days a week. The area that
the department covers in these entities is 42 square miles. Yes, one fire
station, one fire department, 42 square miles!
Let’s talk for a minute about
these forty-two square miles, and the other services within them. In this
coverage area, there are five school districts. All five districts either passed
their last levy after multiple tries, or are still trying to pass one on future
ballots. In this area, we also have four police agencies, five road departments,
two building departments, two water departments, four zoning boards, and last
but not least, five forms of government. With this in mind, it is apparent that
the fire service may not be the first or only service that needs to be
scrutinized, when it comes to the idea of consolidation.
One of the ideas, related to
consolidation, is that of not having to buy as many fire trucks, because they
are so expensive. Indeed, fire trucks are expensive due to the nature of their
specialty. They need to meet stringent NFPA standards, unlike a police car
or dump truck. If you try putting a house fire out with a dump truck or a
police car, it just doesn’t work. In the fire service, we
intentionally
"spec" and then purchase our equipment to last 20 years or more.
Ambulances only last around 7-10 years, due to their heavy use. How many
other service vehicles last 20 years?
The Chardon Fire Department has
automatic mutual aid agreements with surrounding fire departments when it comes
to structure fires or high hazard alarm drops. This means that at major
incidents, other departments automatically are paged out with us, to work as a
team at the emergency. In
Chardon
City
, help comes from the Hambden and Munson Fire Departments. In
Chardon
Township
, it is Hambden, Munson, and Kirtland Fire Departments. And in
Claridon
Township,
it is Hambden and Burton Fire Departments. At large fires or major
incidents, the automatic aid departments consolidate or pool our resources and
work together toward a favorable outcome.
So, in conclusion, the word or
idea of consolidation has been around for a long, long time at the Chardon Fire
Department. And when it comes to consolidating our fire service resources
in Geauga County, we fire departments have our act together. If you'd like
to further discuss the issue, or see your fire personnel and equipment, simply
drop me a line or give me a call at (440) 285-4665.
Respectfully yours
Larry L. Gaspar
Chief Chardon Fire Department.
Did you change your battery in
your smoke detector when you changed your clock?
