The Board of Supervisors Tuesday authorized the Riverside County Fire Department to partner with Murrieta Fire & Rescue under an “automatic aid” agreement that will enable either agency to immediately assist the other in the interest of public safety and timeliness during emergencies.
“Fire departments have so much pride in their departments, and they can let that get in the way of working with nearby partners,” board Chairman Kevin Jeffries, a former firefighter, said. “They tend to forget that the first priority is serving the public. People don’t care what color the patch is; they just want the firefighters there.”
Under the non-binding compact, which comes without payment obligations between the entities and can be cancelled any time, county fire personnel and Murrieta firefighters will have the option to respond across jurisdictions when circumstances warrant.
The goal, according to the agreement, is to keep response times under 12 minutes.
“We’re looking to take advantage of new technologies that we have to allow us to make sure we bring the closest unit to the scene when there’s a fire or critical medical situation going on,” Murrieta fire Chief Bernard Molloy told the board. “We can’t build perfect maps or fire stations, but this allows us to borrow from our neighboring agencies to ensure we’re responding to these emergencies.”
County fire Chief Bill Weiser said that the compact will enable the county and city to “share our resources more seamlessly.”
It’s not the first automatic aid agreement that the county has entered into with another jurisdiction, and it builds on mutual aid connections already in place for wildfire response, according to officials.
“For all fire and rescue calls, each agency will receive the closest unit, regardless of agency of origin, as well as the closest available and appropriate unit from the agency having authority to complete necessary reporting,” the agreement states.
County and Murrieta 911 dispatchers will be able to communicate with one another as part of the initiative.
“This is how fire departments work together for the good of residents and communities,” Supervisor Chuck Washington said.
The agreement has no sunset date.