Hart, Pentwater departments collaborating to form fire authority

HART — Hart and Pentwater fire departments are collaborating to form the West Mich Fire Authority in an effort to more efficiently handle growing emergency call volumes.

The other five departments in Oceana County will be welcome to join the West Mich Fire Authority in the future.

“Any of the other departments in the area are welcome to join. The more that join, the more cost-effective it becomes,” said Oceana County Emergency Manager Troy Maloney.

“About four years ago, we met with all the fire chiefs in the county,” said Maloney, who is also a firefighter with the Hart Area Fire Department. “Call volumes are going up, and this is a national problem — not just in Oceana County. Call volumes are going up, the cost of doing business is going up and volunteerism is going down.”

Firefighters in Oceana County are volunteers who are paid per call. The two departments handled 1,169 combined calls for service last year.

Firefighters do not just battle fires. They respond to several other emergency situations, including medical calls, lift assists, hazardous materials incidents, traffic crashes, downed trees and wires, and water emergencies.

“Any volunteer organization is struggling in today’s world, especially the fire service,” Maloney said.

One roadblock to acquiring volunteer firefighters is the increase in training requirements.

“Training requirements are increasing because firefighter deaths and injuries are very high in volunteer departments. It’s about a $10,000 investment to hire a new firefighter, train them and equip them — whether they stick around or not. Turnover is high.

“The only real way to survive is consolidation.”

“Hart and Pentwater departments work very closely together,” Maloney said. Hart Fire Chief Dwight Fuehring and Pentwater Fire Chief Jonathan Hughart both decided it was time to take a serious look at collaboration.

The fire authority has received approval from all impacted municipalities in the Hart and Pentwater areas to move forward. Fire personnel provided budget information and other data at local government meetings to explain the need for the authority.

An intergovernmental agreement to form the fire authority was approved through verbal commitments by the city of Hart, the village of Pentwater and the townships of Pentwater, Hart, Golden and Weare. Each municipality has appointed a representative to a committee to finalize the agreement, Maloney said.

He anticipates final approval will occur next month.

“We’re shooting for a Sept. 1 startup date,” he said.

The tentative name of the organization is West Mich Fire Authority.

“The idea is they wanted a name that does not exclude anyone in our surrounding area from joining.

“All of the fire departments are very supportive, but they didn’t want to take the risk of doing something that has never been done in our county before — except Hart and Pentwater.

“There is a budget that has been developed that operates pretty much within the same amount of funds that are being produced now by the taxpayers. It’s funded through a cost formula based on SEV (state equalized value), a fixed overhead cost and call volume.”

SEV will account for 70% of the formula, while overhead costs and call volume will account for 15% each.

“Therefore, the ones who use it more will pay a little more. The ones who use it less will pay a little less.

“We will be operating with existing revenues, and we will not be asking for any additional taxpayer money.”

The current combined annual budget for the Hart and Pentwater departments is approximately $925,000, with $731,000 generated through tax revenue.

“We found enough efficiency by combining the two agencies that it allowed us to hire two 40-hour-per-week assistant chiefs. One will work out of the Hart station, and one will work out of the Pentwater station.

“We will continue to use our paid on-call firefighters. During daylight hours, we have an extremely low number of available firefighters because they’re all working full-time jobs.”

Maloney said the manpower shortage is a national problem and not limited to Oceana County.

One assistant chief will oversee day-to-day operations and EMS functions, while the other will oversee the training program and serve as fire marshal, a position Oceana County does not currently have.

Hart Fire Chief Dwight Fuehring will remain chief, and Pentwater Fire Chief Jonathan Hughart will move into the newly created full-time assistant chief position overseeing day-to-day operations and EMS.

Current Pentwater Assistant Chief Mike Barefoot will transfer into the other full-time assistant chief position, serving as fire marshal and overseeing training. Hart Assistant Chief Tim Tubbs will remain a part-time on-call assistant chief, Maloney said.

Currently, Hart pays on-call firefighters $25 per hour and Pentwater pays $30. Under the fire authority, all on-call firefighters will be paid $30 per hour.

“Hart Fire Department and Pentwater Fire Department will no longer exist,” Maloney said. “They are merging into a new organization called the West Mich Fire Authority. We will honor the past of those departments and make sure we preserve the history, but they technically will be dissolved and folded into the new organization.”

Over time, the West Mich Fire Authority name will replace the Hart Area Fire Department and Pentwater Fire Department names on station buildings, fire trucks, uniforms and turnout gear. A logo for the new authority is being developed.

“It will be the same people providing the same service under a new organization,” Maloney said. “Both stations will remain operational, and 40 hours a week during the weekday, when we’re short on manpower, we will have a full-time assistant chief in each station for immediate response and for handling business administration, inspections and other duties.

“This is going to increase the quality of response times. We’re going to get to scenes faster through executive-level personnel who can manage an incident and make good decisions right off the bat and who are highly trained and experienced.”

Efficiency also will increase through the collaboration.

Right now, if a Hart firefighter is in Pentwater and there is an emergency call in Pentwater, that firefighter cannot respond because of municipal boundaries unless the Pentwater department requests assistance from Hart.

“This allows us to get the closest responder — regardless of what station they’re assigned to — to help respond to that scene.

“We have two successful fire authorities right next to us. One is Mason County Rural Fire Authority to the north of us with eight fire stations within its jurisdiction, and White Lake Fire Authority to the south of us in Muskegon County.”

Both authorities have existed for decades. Maloney said local fire officials have been receiving advice from personnel in both organizations about launching the authority.

This is the sixth fire authority Maloney has been involved with during his career as a fire chief.

“Every one of them is still up and operational and is more efficient than they would have been on their own,” he said.

“There are not many upfront savings, but it slows down the escalation of rising costs over time. It allows us to avoid duplicated equipment, such as fire gear, radios, pagers and annual physicals.

“It’s all these little savings across the board that create financial efficiency.

“Overall, we’re going to provide a quicker and more efficient response while still remaining fiscally responsible.”