Jan. 03--The two-year pilot program joining administrative staff at the Upland and Montclair fire departments kicked off this week with a garage fire.
On Wednesday, the first day of the transition, Montclair Battalion Chief Robert Crouch, was the lead officer on the incident, which coincidentally occurred in Upland near the Ontario border.
Montclair City Manager Edward Starr said the transition "so far is moving along," and in the first day, the joint management system was put into use.
Going into the program's first week, Upland Fire Chief Rick Mayhew said both agencies continue to be supportive.
"Everybody is looking forward to the possibilities of what this can do as far as training together and running more calls together and the level of service provided now for the communities," Mayhew said. "Everybody's very excited about it happening."
The program was approved last month by both city councils and will combine command staff, including Mayhew, and drop the service boundary lines between the two cities in June allowing the closest engine to an emergency to respond to incidents in either city.
Chris Jackson, president of the Montclair Firefighters Association, said he has personally noticed a change with the merger in place.
"We went up (Thursday) and exchanged map books with Station 3," he said. "There's a level of excitement, it's great. We are very excited, and it's going to be a great thing for the citizens of both communities."
With the merger in place, both departments will have access to any unit. Which means Montclair will be able to access the Upland ladder truck --if it is not already responding to an emergency --equipment the department has not had access to since the 1970s, Jackson said.
By being able to use the ladder truck, that will increase safety for fire personnel but it will also improve the department's ability to attack fires, he said.
"Regionalization is a great thing for the city, a great for the citizens and great thing for the firefighters," Jackson said.
The next phase of the transition is expected to occur later this month when Montclair fire safety personnel will shift to a 48/96 schedule, which is used by Upland's department. By adopting the new schedule, crews will work two consecutive 24-hour shifts for a total of 48 hours on duty and 96 hours off.
The cities have agreed to split compensation costs for Mayhew, who will serve as fire chief for both departments, and a fire marshal, with Upland paying 67 percent and Montclair paying 33 percent.
Upland expects to save $156,000 from sharing the two positions with Montclair.
For Montclair, it will save $476,170 in operating costs.
Each city will continue to be responsible for its own firefighters, including workers compensation, liability, salary and benefits, evaluations as well as disciplinary action.
Copyright 2014 - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif.
