BY KYLE GARGARO
Clarkston News Editor
North Oakland County fire departments, including Independence Township, have formed an interagency cooperation called the North Oakland County Mutual Aid.
‘In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedies call for a more regionalized approach to incidents such as hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction, technician rescue, etc., resonated throughout the country,? Independence Township Fire Chief Steve Ronk said.
The interagency cooperation has existed informally between the 12 fire departments for the past few years. However, the association met for its first official meeting Jan. 7 and established a membership fee of $3,000 from each participating community.
The Independence Township Board of Trustees recently approved the North Oakland County Mutual Aid Inter-local agreement which allowed the expenditure and membership.
‘With the $3,000 from each community we have a small pot of money to work with,? Ronk said. ‘We can use this money to bring in equipment, bring in classes or anything else we need.?
The fire departments who are participating include Auburn Hills, Rochester, Rochester Hills and the townships of Addison, Brandon, Groveland, Orion, Oxford, Springfield, Waterford and While Lake in addition to Independence.
‘It is all about neighbors helping neighbors. In my time here I have never witnessed the amount of cooperation that I am seeing right now,? Ronk said. ‘We have so many small departments up here we are not able to do everything. But if every department has two guys who are very good at it then with this agreement we have 24 guys who are good at it.?
This new group is an expansion of the Hazardous Materials Response Team of North Oakland County which was one of four regional response teams that were funded by Oakland County.
‘That covered equipment and training for technical rescue, rope rescue, aquatic skills and other specialized items,? Ronk said.
Ronk says the new association is needed to assure the continued state of readiness, coordinated response and overall direction of a regional response team.
‘The intent was to create a steering association of sorts to provide direction on issues involving regional response and mutual aid to other communities, ? Ronk said. ‘This thing has legs right now and it is good for all communities.?