Problems at department next door

[ellwood1]

I didn't intend to offend, I was just wondering what eventually happens in cases like this it doesn't seem like it can go on long term. However I will delete.

[Bones42]

Ya, seems like you are worrying about a department that is not yours and providing all their "faults" to the public for everyone to see.

If I were them....I'd be pretty ****ed at you as well.


Honest question....along with posting their dirty laundry on the internet....what has YOUR department done/offered to them as help? Training/education/drilling?

[Eng34FF]

I've been on both sides of these types of situations. Keep in mind that the other department is probably very frustrated about their ability to get out as well.

Recommend that the Chiefs get together to discuss issues and take a look at the mutual aid agreement if there is one.

Also, try to plan some drills/training with the other department. Get to know what they expect and what you expect. You can also help bring them up to your standards. If they start training with you more, you will get to know each other and relations will improve.

[Ctuttle3d]

don't throw stones..... at some point down the road you'll be in a situation and will get mad if someone throws stones at you....... do what you can to help and keep your and your neighbors dirty laundry in the hamper....

[ellwood1]

I deleted the original post sorry if I offended was not my original intent.

I will try to answer some of the questions.

EastKyFF - yes this is our concern as well as the fact we are a city department and they are rural district so the types of calls tend to be different. Also they are a very short distance from our city, but then the nearest mutual aid is over 30 miles away, so it affects us too.

We do have a formal mutual aid agreement in place.
We have trained with them in the past.
I have personally offered to do joint drills.
I might have misrepresented the tension aspect, we have no problems working together on scene. In fact I would say that the tension is with the board and city.

Believe me I'm not trying to throw stones, cause I would need a bucket to throw my own way as well. We have our own staffing problems as well, just not quite this bad.

[dfwfirefighter]

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) you don't "own" their problem(s). Let their command staff handle their issues.

The exception lies when "their" problems become "your" problems whether it be mutual/automatic aid assistance at an emergency scene or a day-to-day operational issue. At that point, make your chain of command aware of the how "their" issues are impacting "your" operations and let the chiefs earn their money and rectify it.

If the two (or more) departments cannot resolved their operational issues, whether it be due to finances, egos, or whatever, all you can do is manage your folks according to your department's rules and regs.

For example, when my FD answers a mutual or automatic aid run into another city, we send a BC with them regardless if it's a dumpster fire or a 5-11 fire. The point is we will safely manage our resources and our resources alone (unless another city's assets/resources are placed under the command of our folks at an incident).

If we are operating under the command of another city, our BC and/or company officers have the right to refuse any order that is deamed unsafe. If the other city's IC insists on us undertaking an unsafe task or operation, we notify that IC and our dispatcher that we are terminating our city's participation in the incident.

Note that this has never happened as we have a great operational relationship with our surrounding city's.

The point is you can only impact those areas you have responsibility over. Anything else requires you use your resources and chain of command to get things done.