Under a recently approved interlocal agreement, the North Logan Fire Department with be consolidated with the Logan City Fire Department.
LOGAN – The cities of Logan and North Logan are now set to begin consolidating their Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services, following a vote of approval by the Logan City Council on April 7.
The goal of the planned merger is to provide improved Fire/EMS service for the residents of North Logan, according to Assistant Chief Craig Humpherys of the Logan City Fire Department.
“North Logan’s fire department and emergency medical service have traditionally been all-volunteer operations,” Humphreys explained. “But the city has been struggling in recent years to provide adequate staffing for those services.
“For the past year, LCFD has been assigning one of our people each day to the North Logan fire station to bring their around-the-clock staffing up to two fire fighters. When this consolidation is completed, North Logan will have four professional, full-time fire fighters on a daily basis.”
Under the 10-year interlocal agreement approved by both city councils, North Logan will provide its fire-fighting equipment and station facilities, while Logan provides Fire/EMS personnel.
The agreement obligates LCFD to provide suppression of wildfires and structure fires, training, rescue services, hazardous material cleanup and airport rescue, plus emergency medical service and ambulance transport. Those services will be provided to the cities of Logan, North Logan, Providence, River Heights and Mendon; College and Young wards; and the area of Logan Canyon.
The price tag for North Logan for the enhanced Fire/EMS protection during the first fiscal year of the agreement is estimated at nearly $900,000.
The consolidation process will officially begin when mayors Holly Daines of Logan and Lloyd Berentzen of North Logan sign the interlocal agreement. Humphreys expects that signing to take place by mid-April.
The LCFD will then conduct Civil Service testing during May for the new employees needed to adequately staff the fire station in North Logan. The hiring process will follow and Humphreys said the consolidation should be completed by July 1.