The City of Hoquiam has applied for a community development planning grant that would allow for an examination of the city’s emergency services plan and may recommend a merger between the Hoquiam and Aberdeen Fire Departments.
If approved, the $24,000 grant would be used to complete an analysis of how to better serve the city through fire and emergency services, with consultants identifying what could be changed in the way of staffing, command structure and equipment.
The results may suggest consolidating the Aberdeen and Hoquiam Fire Departments into one, an idea that has been thrown around between the two cities since at least the late 1970s. In May both Aberdeen and Hoquiam announced they were again looking at the possibility of a merger, with meetings between the two departments held earlier this year.
Notwithstanding foiled attempts in the past, officials from both Hoquiam and Aberdeen see potential in combining the departments this time around.
“I think it’s a really important step to have an outside third party come in and dig down into how we operate,” said Aberdeen Fire Chief Tom Hubbard.
“We applied for the grant primarily to focus in on a partnership with Aberdeen. We believe it makes a lot of sense. I think there’s a lot of interest on both sides of Myrtle Street,” said Hoquiam City Administrator Brian Shay.
Shay says a merger between the two departments would be a financial benefit for his city, as spending on staffing and equipment would go down. “For Hoquiam and where we are as a city, we need to improve our financial stability and lessen costs across the board. That’s the main thrust behind this: looking at costs,” he said.
Hubbard said vehicle replacement among departments could be deferred as part of a merger. Aberdeen’s ladder truck was built in 2001, while Hoquiam’s was just purchased recently. If the two departments were combined, when it was time to replace Aberdeen’s truck, Hoquiam’s could be put into use instead of spending the money for a new one.
Doug Stankavich, President of the Hoquiam Firefighters Union, agreed that thinking about consolidation is a step in the right direction.
“We’re certainly still open to the idea of a merger with Aberdeen Fire. The intent is always to provide the same or better service with the potential for saving some money in the future,” he said.
The Aberdeen and Hoquiam fire departments receive about 8,000 calls a year between the two of them. Combined, the two stations have 54 firefighters on staff.
“We’re really busy down here,” said Hubbard, who estimates the Aberdeen department gets 12 to 15 calls on average per shift. He said that number was pushing 20-plus in November and December.
Cooperating already
Right now both Aberdeen and Hoquiam work together on structure fires, due to the small size of each department.
“We’re too small not to do that,” said Hubbard.
Shay said no current firefighters would be laid off if the plan went through, explaining that the only reduction of staff members would occur through retirement.
“Even if costs are neutral, we could more efficiently manage our resources. At a minimum, you’re only going to need one fire chief. There would be the ability to reduce staff to some degree over time, a consultant would make a recommendation,” said Shay.
“If the two departments do decide to come together, what that will mean for command structure, personnel and form is yet to be seen. One question is whether or not creating an Aberdeen and Hoquiam hybrid will mean creating one union or keeping the two separate.
Shay said the city of Hoquiam has been keeping an eye on a recent merger between the Camas and Washougal fire departments that was finalized in 2013. In that case, the two departments decided to create one union contract for employees of both stations.
“The union is very involved in this process and has to agree to a lot of things contractually to make it work,” said Shay.
Hoquiam should know whether or not the grant is approved within a month.
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