Mutual aid agreement benefits local residents

To the Editor:

Several years ago, the mutual aid agreement was formed which authorized the city of McMinnville to lend assistance to other fire departments upon their request. However, the unfortunate fire at McMinnville Molding has raised some controversy since it was ‘just barely’ outside the city limits.

Personally, as a city taxpayer, I am very happy the McMinnville Fire Department responded and was able to assist in preventing the fire from continuing to spread. I’m sure many of the 55 or so employees were city taxpayers also, and they too were very pleased to see the city fire department respond.

However, let’s consider the situation if the fire had been at Calsonic. In this case, the Morrison Fire Department would have responded and it would have been up to the local incident commander (fire chief) to assess the situation and call for assistance.

In this case I’m sure the McMinnville Fire Department would have been called. Their response time would still require approximately 15 minutes to arrive at the scene and get set up to fight the fire. The only difference would have been the fact that Calsonic is not located ‘just barely’ outside the city limits.

Warren County is very fortunate to have so many community volunteer fire department’s that are well equipped and trained. The city of McMinnville is also very fortunate to have a well-equipped and trained full-time fire department. The citizens of this community should count their blessings and be thankful for the mutual aid agreement being in place.

Charles Bogle
Oak Hill Drive
McMinnville