The city of Whitewater announced Thursday that Whitewater Fire Department Inc. is in discussions with the city to become a city department with the hope it can better serve the municipality and surrounding towns.
“At the end of 2021, discussions began about staffing concerns in order to better serve the community and surrounding areas,” the city stated in an announcement Thursday. “By January of 2022, members of the Whitewater Fire Department Inc. gave permission to the board of directors to move forward in creating a relationship with the City of Whitewater. This includes creating a Memorandum of Understanding, which is currently in process.”
According to the city, the plan is to make a phased transfer to ensure a smooth transition, starting with the transfer of emergency medical services operations, staffing, and physical assets or equipment.
WFD Inc. will plan to keep its established 501(c)(3) status, allowing the organization to continue to accept donations for additional equipment in the future.
“The merger is intended to address emergency staffing needs by providing comparable salaries as other fire departments, but more importantly, to offer benefits to staff,” the city announcement stated.
“This merge is for the citizens,” said WFD Inc. Board of Directors President and Fire Capt. Christ Christon. “We need to provide the best service we can to our community and the surrounding townships.”
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