A plan is in the works to develop a joint fire command for Brentwood, Clayton, Maplewood, Richmond Heights and Rock Hill, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported.
Rock Hill officials at their meeting on Tuesday passed a resolution authorizing their city administrator and fire chief to work with officials and fire chiefs from Brentwood, Clayton, Maplewood and Richmond Heights to set up a joint fire command staff structure. All cities will still have their own fire departments and fire stations, according to the Post-Dispatch.
According to the Post-Dispatch: A study by Emergency Services Consulting International concluded “a consolidated administrative and support branch to oversee operation of the five fire departments would lead to improved efficiency and elimination of redundant effort,” improved firefighter safety and possibly cost-savings.
“… While costs of the cooperative effort may, at first remain static or even increase, future positions could be combined or eliminated based on attrition, thereby reducing future cost,” the report noted.
After the meeting, Rock Hill City Administrator Jennifer Yackley told the Post-Dispatch it’s too early to say how many positions might be eliminated in the fire department. “We’re still at the conceptual stage,” she said.
Read the article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Doug Minor can you find the article that was printed some years back about the Sport’s Attic fire? That is the article where Central Command did not send Maplewood to help fight the fire. Chief Jury was waiting for their help.
It would be in the Maplewood-Brentwood Patch.
Speak Now – Sorry, the fire took place in Patch days, but the article you’re looking for was in 40 South. http://bit.ly/1bZDfTG
Good Lord! Is there no end to the cynicism and negativity you people are capable of?!?! It must be a terrible burden to bear . . . I feel sorry for you.
Brentwood Inn aka sports attic here is the story
http://bit.ly/2auzQiz
I think Shrewsbury and perhaps Webster provide a good deal of mutual aid to Maplewood currently. How would this joint command impact those relationships?
We could be like the others if our City Council OK’s the joint fire command. Just think how proud you will be at the ribbon cutting of our new firehouse ! This could be our last chance to be just like the City of St.Louis, U City ,and others around us. You will see us going from horses to gas power trucks. Make sure you tell your City Mgr. what you want. They are the ones who run your city. Just look back to Apr 8th, 2003 in Richmond Heights when that great city voted a sales tax to help there fire dept. This was a great help in buying a few more horses to pull there trucks. Now with a new sales tax ( coming after the joint command takes place ) we will have a greater dept. If this works, just think, the Police could be next ! They could all have radios in their cars and get rid of all the ugly call boxes on the street corners. How do fire hydrants sound ? A few more dollars in taxes and you could see them popping up in your area. There is no end to what we can do by cutting back on city employees , raising taxes and tell the residents what a great city they live in. Just remember, all of this is “FOR YOUR SAFETY ” ! Do we need a Council ? Do we need a City Mgr.? The city of St. Louis could do it ALL. Have a nice day. I am getting my house ready to sell and move West. I am not frightened of ISIS or Thugs, ( all our police carrie a bullet in their shirt pockets), it’s the City Mgr’s that keep me up at night with ideas like this.
Worst decision ever made for Brentwood FD to switch to East Central dispatching. It was pushed by political appointments who had very little firefighting experience. I guess the incident command system is not used anymore?
It is the way of life in the business world today.
Another BS of Hoodwinks. What happened with Webster and Ladue mutual aid to Brentwood. Why not put it on the November ballot and see what the citizens of each municipality would prefer. We already got the Central Command who has made MISTAKES. (DID NOT DISPATCH MAPLEWOOD FD TO ASSIST BRENTWOOD IN THE BRENTWOOD INN FIRE ). This is all of us need, people loosing their jobs. Eventually there will be one fire department in Stl County, then one PD.
Folks, how long have the fire departments worked as they are now. It has worked all these years with no problems. If it works why try in fix it.
I apologize for posting off-topic, but could you provide any information about this Brentwood Inn fire? I can’t seem to find anything by the name of Brentwood Inn.
Consider the Monarch Fire Protection District. It is a scandal.
Please keep our department just as it is; under Maplewood control.
I confidently assure you, Tom, this is in no way comparable to Monarch or the type of problems they are having. The structure created by a joint fire command staff would save each municipality money and resources while still maintaining each department’s current personnel, vehicles, and infrastructure and eliminating potentially costly redundancies. Regardless, our fire departments are still municipal-based entities and not separate taxing entities run by boards as fire districts are.
I think most of Brentwood agrees. There’s no need for this.
They looked at doing this years ago. http://bit.ly/2aYkGV3
This is a LONG overdue idea! Next, police departments, and street departments. The PARC program shows how well combining services from several communities can work for the better good of the city budgets and the citizens.
Not sure if spreading ourselves thin is a better idea or not. I understand the concept, however. Many, many corporations across the country have done the very same thing, thereby placing a huge number of Americans on the unemployed roster. The concept might not seem as long overdue if you happen to be one of those who is no longer earning a living.