County fire departments joining forces

Council voting on mutual-aid agreement this month amongst departments

For the first time ever, there will be a county-wide mutual aid agreement among all fire departments in La Crosse County.

The La Crosse city council is voting on that agreement this month and fire chief Gregg Cleveland could not be more pleased. He says the agreement is “really a positive move forward.”

Under the proposed agreement, fire departments in the county could simply respond to other jurisdictions without money for services ever changing hands. 

That’s a huge step because situations have occurred where there’s had to be considerations of cost in responding to another jurisdiction, Cleveland said. That’s the last thing that should be weighed, he added, when there’s property loss and lives at stake.

The new agreement will run in perpetuity until one of the local government units involved decides to end it.