7 cities in Salt Lake County are forming fire agency

Seven cities in Salt Lake County are forming a fire agency that they say will increase their efficiency, while cutting costs.

The Metro Fire Agency initially will include the Sandy, West Valley, South Jordan and South Salt Lake Fire Departments. Murray, West Jordan and Midvale are expected to join soon, according to Sandy Fire Chief Don Chase.

"We're trying to keep the autonomy of the cities but share services at a much different scale than ever before," he said.

The the new agency will be in addition to the Unified Fire Authority, which includes the unincorporated cities of Salt Lake County. Salt Lake City also retains its own fire department.

The departments that now will be part of the Metro Fire Agency said it made more financial sense to form a new agency rather than join UFA.

Each city in the MFA will develop specialties. For example, the Sandy Fire Department's specialty will be hazardous materials incidents, heavy rescues and mass casualty equipment. The Murray Fire Department will specialize in swift-water rescue. West Valley will specialize in bomb and explosive incidents, and South Jordan will respond to cave and trench rescues. South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote said that this way each city doesn't have to spend money on the specialized equipment and training it takes for each service.

"We're hoping that's where the big savings come in," Chase said.

The agency will have a board of trustees, but the mayors and city councils of each city will still have control over their fire-fighting budgets.

The UFA can tax residents for services, but MFA cities will still have to go to voters for approval before making major purchases.

UFA Chief Don Berry described the Metro Fire Agency as the "same idea, different method" as the Unified Fire Authority.

"Any kind of regional look at fire protection is a good thing," he said. "As far as the way we look at fighting, any effort to regionalize and take a look at the bigger picture is a good thing rather than each city concentrating on its own abilities or boundaries."

Berry noted that all fire departments in Salt Lake County, whether they be from the MFA, UFA or Salt Lake City, are part of a valleywide alliance that meets regularly.

"We're all in this together," he said. "I think everybody is kind of going in that direction (to regionalize), there are just different ways of getting there."