DEARBORN — This Tuesday, the Dearborn City Council voted 5-0, to approve official plans of a fire department merger with the neighboring City of Melvindale. Officials from both cities are hoping to have operations up and running by September 1, after the Melvindale City Council approves the merger as well.

While the decision to move forward with the merger appears to have been a smooth process from Dearborn’s end, it has been met with mixed reaction from residents and officials in Melvindale. During their City Council meeting last week, council members and residents engaged in debate over whether, or not the merger was a good move for the City of Melvindale.

Melvindale has been facing financial setbacks for years now, and some council members were concerned that a fire department merger with Dearborn will only serve as the first step towards “going out of business.” However, other council members pointed out that the merger would save them $500,000 for the first year and possibly over $1 million after that.

Melvindale’s City Council was expected to finalize the merger on June 19. However, the council had agreed to delay the vote until Dearborn approved it at their City Council meeting.  In addition, they also wish to allow Melvindale officials more time to review the merger.

       

After Dearborn approved the merger on Tuesday, some expressed concern that Melvindale would not follow suit. However, Dearborn Fire Chief Joseph Murray, who has been closely involved with the details of the merger, said that he is confident that Melvindale’s Council would approve the merger as well.

If all goes as planned, the merger is expected to run for 15 years, with Murray taking the lead as the top administrator. As part of the deal, Melvindale Fire Chief Steven Densmore will serve as deputy chief of the operation.

Operations and equipment would also be managed by the Dearborn Fire Department. Murray said that the Melvindale station, along with the four stations in Dearborn, would remain open, and Melvindale’s 15 firefighters would be assimilated into the Dearborn Fire Department.  Dearborn will house all 135 of their firefighters as well. 

Murray says that both cities will greatly benefit from the merger, as it will improve response time by two-four minutes.  Under the consolidation, multiple firefighters may respond to an emergency, depending on whether, or not the call is a fire, or a medical dispatch.  

Dearborn’s current response time in some areas of the City ranges from six-eight minutes.  The addition of the Melvindale station is expected to benefit Dearborn residents who live closer to Melvindale.