Pine City and Rush City council members met Tuesday to discuss fire protection, with the cities’ current contracted aid agreement set to expire after April 1.
At the meeting, Rush City administrator Amy Mell explained that the Rush City Council unanimously passed a motion on Monday night to withdraw fees from the contracted aid agreement if the cities didn’t return to its previous mutual aid agreement.
“If Pine City wants to keep contracted fire aid, and keep fees, we would withdraw our fees from that agreement and we would not charge for providing assistance to Pine City,” Mell said.
Mell added that Rush City would prefer to return to a regular mutual aid agreement.
Pine City Council member Dan Swanson asked what the contract arrangement matters when calls between departments aren’t made.
According to a statement issued on March 4 by Pine City Mayor Kent Bombard, the Rush City Fire Department has not requested aid from Pine City under the contracted aid agreement.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of agreement is in place,” Swanson said. “If we’re not making the phone call, we’re not making the phone call.”
Pine City ended its previous mutual aid agreement with Rush City after the city of Rock Creek exclusively contracted with the Rush City Fire Department in December of 2023.
The contracted aid agreement was approved by the Pine City Council in June of 2024.
A Feb. 27 structure fire on Freedom Road in Rock Creek that resulted in the total loss of a residence has put the fire protection conversation in renewed focus.
“There’s a note from one of the deputies that your tanker was parked 50 feet from the Pine City line,” Bombard said. “Why weren’t we called? We’re three and a half miles away. Costs shouldn’t matter at this point in time. I can say that costs don’t matter to us, if we need Rush City Fire, we need Rush City Fire, I don’t care what the bill is.”
Rock Creek council member Dan Saumer advocated for mutual aid between the two departments, saying that contracted aid “hits residents twice” when it comes to costs.
“I really believe strongly in mutual aid,” Saumer said. “I really believe strongly that’s the direction it needs to go.”
Swanson suggested keeping the contracted aid agreement in place for six months, and reevaluating in October to make budget adjustments as necessary.
“My thought would be that we stick with contracted aid, you call us when you need us, and we’re going to get the cost back to do maintenance on wear and tear on equipment,” said Pine City council member Kyle Palmer.
Rush City mayor Alan Johnson said “we’ll gladly sign a contract paying you for contracted aid; we are not going to charge.”
The council members briefly discussed Grantsburg canceling its mutual aid agreement with Rush City, which Johnson said the city was “blindsided” by.
No action was taken by the Pine City Council, which will hold its next regular meeting on Thursday, March 20.
A special meeting on the fire protection agreement was suggested for March 27.
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