Since he became Airway Heights Fire Chief in 2011, Mitch Metzger has done several things to consolidate and instill cooperation between the city’s fire department and Spokane County Fire District 10.
In April, the city entered into an interlocal agreement with Fire District 10 to allow Metzger to become that agency’s deputy fire chief of operations, while still performing his duties as Airway Heights’ fire chief.
Two months have passed since the agreement and Metzger said things are “going well.”
“As I expected it would,” Metzger said. “The difficult thing has been learning the inner workings of Fire District 10.”
The process for Metzger working with district began following a cooperative services study done by Emergency Services Consulting International. The study was conducted to see how Fire District 10 and Airway Heights, along with the Medical Lake Fire Department, could further consolidate services. One of ESCI’s recommendations was Airway Heights to merge with Fire District 10 through a regional fire authority or annexation, neither of which happened.
Another option was for both departments to contract services with each other.
When former Fire District 10 Fire Chief Robert Ladd was leaving to work for the city of Spokane, both Fire District 10 and Airway Heights felt it was a good opportunity to have Metzger “come on board.”
Besides learning the inner workings at the district, Metzger has been getting to know the department’s staff on a personal level.
“I knew a lot of their names and I recognized them from the fire recruit academy,” Metzger said. “But since I’ve been here, I’ve learned about their day jobs and stuff like that.”
Getting to know the staff has helped Metzger on fire calls. During the July 3 apartment complex structure fire, Metzger said he “was able to give the Fire District 10 crews better direction” at the scene.
Metzger has also learned procedures from the district he can bring to his department and vice-versa.
“Fire District 10 gave me a pre-fire plan in a three-ring binder, which includes floor plans for commercial buildings,” Metzger said. “I have the same thing at Airway Heights, except it’s on my tablet. I showed Fire District 10 staff and they said ‘that’s a good idea.’”
Another example stems from a person who called the Airway Heights Fire Department and inquired about being a wildland firefighter. Metzger referred the person to Fire District 10’s program.
“Had I not been at Fire District 10, I wouldn’t have known about the option for a wildland firefighter,” Metzger said.
Metzger added that both offices are close enough to where he only needs to use one command vehicle.
“If I have a volunteer who is at the Fire District 10 office who wants to talk to me, it takes five minutes to get over there,” Metzger said.
The interlocal agreement is good for one year. Metzger said he will get together with Fire District 10 and Airway Heights City Manager Albert Tripp to discuss “how things are going.” He added that the agreement has a clause where any of the three parties can nullify it if they believe things are not going well.
Fire District 10 Fire Chief Nick Scharff said it is too early to really tell how Metzger’s transition is going so far, though he does not “see any red flags right now.”
“Our people are having to adjust to his schedule, but it’s working (so far),’” Scharff said.
From the city’s perspective, Tripp agreed with Scharff’s assessment, saying “we haven’t operated under the agreement long enough to draw a concrete conclusion.”
“But we are moving (in) a positive direction, and that’s the entire reason for this,” Tripp added. “To see how we (city and Fire District 10) can benefit each other.”
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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