Published March 25, 2015

Auto aid agreement signed

Courtesy The Wiregrass Farmer
by Ben Baker, Editor

The City of Ashburn and the County now have a formal agreement linking the two fire departments. When one department is dispatched to a structure fire, the other department is also sent out.

The agreement calls for the County Commission to pay the City for this service.

Ashburn was recently given an Insurance Services Organization (ISO) rank of 2, making it the smallest city in the state to have such a high rank. Macon is the only city in Georgia with a 1. The lower the number, the better the fire fighting ability and the lower property insurance rates become.

“This will not hurt the City of Ashburn’s Class 2 rating,” said City Manager Dan Bollinger. “It can help the Class 9 for the County.”

The lowest ISO is a 10, which means there is no fire department.

County Fire Chief Robby Royal thanked the City for considering and approving the agreement. The County Commission and Ashburn Council both approved the agreement.

Chief Royal said the County’s fire department is all volunteer and has a 7 minute response time. With full time firefighters, Ashburn’s response time is less.

“This puts 2 departments that are working together, truly working together,” he said.

“This is collaboration and cooperation at it’s best,” said Ashburn Fire Chief Brian Meadows. “We hope this opens the front door on cooperation between the City and County on other things.”

“This is a good opportunity for the City and the County to work together. This is better fire protection for the citizens of the County,” Ashburn Mayor Sedric Carithers said.

“We all need to work together,” said County Commission Chairman Sam McCard.

Chief Royal said this is a step toward lowering the County’s ISO in the future. He said this may take some time and long range plans include having a full time firefighter on staff with the County.

Most important right now is this agreement will help save lives and property, he said.