Many residents of Dearborn and Melvindale will not notice the change, but the merger of the two city's fire departments Sunday is part of a trend that is likely to expand across metro Detroit over the coming years.
Cities desperate to save money are looking at joining fire departments that, while necessary, are expensive to staff and maintain, even though fires are rare in most suburbs. In Detroit, where fires are one of the city's numerous woes and the department is understaffed and ill equipped, the commissioner, Donald Austin, has discussed a possible merger with Hamtramck, Highland Park and Harper Woods.
In several large ways, regionalization is already reality in southeast Michigan: the water department, Cobo Center, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Eastern Market, the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Historical Museum are owned by the city of Detroit but run by boards that have a regional makeup.
The areas that are fertile for change are the massive duplication in services among city departments among Detroit's suburbs.
After months of discussion and training, the merging of the Dearborn and Melvindale fire departments became a reality Sunday. A ceremonial signing commemorating the one-year anniversary of the beginning of talks took place Friday, Bob Oliver reports in the Dearborn Times-Herald.
“We’re here today doing something historic, and I think that it is something that everyone else will want to do in the future,” Melvindale City Administrator JimBeri said.
Dearborn Mayor John O’Reilly Jr. said the merger was good for both cities.
“It’s wonderful when you have something like this, where the change is to everyone’s benefit,” O’Reilly said. “Both parties save money and retain excellent services for their customers.”
He added that because of modern finances, mergers are something that will become more important for cities like Dearborn.
The two cities share a short border along part of Dearborn's southern edge, but have little else in common. Melvindale has about 10,000 residents; Deaborn's population is nearly 100,000.
