Idaho Falls city council approves firefighting asst. agreement

Idaho Falls city council approved an agreement Thursday night to allow the Idaho Falls fire department to work with other local jurisdictions for wildfires “in eastern Idaho collaboration is key,” said Idaho Falls Fire Chief, Dave Hanneman.

The agreement will also allow the Bonneville County Sheriff to get help from the fire department in an unincorporated part of the county for a wild fire. The fire department will be compensated at the Idaho state rate.

“The Henry’s Creek Fire really put emphasis on the fact that we really all need to work together and there’s a large portion of Bonneville county that’s not in a city or a fire district,” said Hanneman.

Ultimately, this will allow the fire department to work faster, all of the jurisdictions that have signed on to the agreement will be able to take advantage of the new practice immediately.