Excerpts from Record-Eagle.com:
The Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department board recently approved a new policy that will charge neighboring fire departments between $1,000 and $5,000 for every two-hour period that a Metro fire truck is dispatched outside of the three member townships—Acme, East Bay, and Garfield. The decision came after a significant imbalance was observed: Metro provided support to other departments 25 times in the past year, while only receiving help five times.
"Mutual aid should be a two-way street," said Metro Fire Chief Pat Parker. "But based on the numbers, we haven't been getting the same level of support in return."
The county operates under a box-response system, dividing the area into 80 geographic zones. Each incident triggers an alarm level depending on its severity, with higher alarms requiring more resources. Under the new policy, Metro will charge $1,000 for the first two hours of a second-alarm call, $5,000 for a third-alarm, and $2,500 for a fourth-alarm. After the initial two hours, the rate will increase to $2,500 per hour.
The board also voted to adjust the response boxes so that Metro no longer responds to first-alarms outside of its three townships. "Many first-alarms are just investigations, not actual fires," Parker explained. "Local departments should be able to handle those calls without needing Metro’s assistance."
Parker noted that one reason Metro is often called for first-alarms is because their stations are staffed 24/7, while some neighboring townships don’t offer the same level of coverage. "There's a cost to maintaining that readiness, and it doesn’t make sense to provide it for free," he said. "We expect to see changes across the county as a result."
The policy was approved on December 22 by a narrow 3-2 vote. East Bay Township Trustee Beth Friend, chair of the fire board, said there was general agreement on charging for mutual aid, but some debate over the specifics. She mentioned that Blair Township already charges for mutual aid and maintains good relationships with its neighbors.
"We hope other jurisdictions that currently don’t charge will follow suit," Friend said. "This is a step toward fairer resource sharing."
Grand Traverse Rural Fire received 12 mutual aid calls, mostly from Whitewater Township, and is expected to be most affected by the new policy. Blair Township, which gave aid twice this year, and Traverse City, which returned aid once, may also see shifts in how they handle future requests.
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