Could merging fire districts save small rural ones from closing?
ROUGH AND READY — Three Nevada County fire districts are merging to keep operations at Rough and Ready Fire that were set to stop on June 30 alive.
We have seen fire departments shutting down due to a lack of staffing or funding, often in spots with high fire danger. Rough and Ready may be one of the first making this merge to stay open, but it likely will not be the last.
"We are not a bookstore," said Rough and Ready Fire board member Doug Whittler. "If we close, it impacts people's lives and property."
Due to a lack of funding, Rough and Ready Fire was ready to close for good at the end of the month, but now neighboring fire districts on the east — Nevada County Consolidated — and on the west — Penn Valley — are merging with Rough and Ready so the doors there can stay open.
This merge will take Rough and Ready's coverage of 720 households to 25,000 households with the help of its neighboring departments.
"Since we are centrally located, everybody realized last year that if this station closes, it has a severe impact," said Whittler.
Nevada County District 4 Supervisor Sue Hoek told CBS13 it takes about a million dollars to run a fire station full time.
"That would cost all of those folks in that district just more money than they could possibly afford," said Hoek.
That is why Nevada County has stepped forward with half a million dollars a year in stop gap funding to keep Rough and Ready open in the interim. During this time, Penn Valley and Nevada County Consolidated will control the finances.
The next step is to create a memorandum of understanding between the three districts, go through the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) process and finalize the merge by August 2024.
"There are a lot of other districts that are in the same boat we are in," Whittler said.
In the last five years, Rough and Ready Fire has transitioned from a volunteer-only department to paid staff.
"California state has come out with mandates that are very expensive for small rural departments like our own," said Whittler.
One of these costly and time-consuming changes: volunteers needing to go through the fire academy.
This means we may start to see other rural communities merging with surrounding departments to keep services local.
"We would be the first, but we will not be the last," said Whittler.
Supervisor Hoek said this three district merge will also help with people trying to get home owner's insurance since they will have a local fire department still servicing them.
Starting July 1, Rough and Ready will be staffed 24/7 just in time for fire season.
Whittler is still not sure if the merger will change the fire department's name. He told CBS13 they will be keeping their board, but the three districts will eventually operate under one chief.