Idaho Falls, Swan Valley to merge emergency services

The Bonneville County Commissioners decided Idaho Falls and Swan Valley will merge emergency medical services, and the Idaho Falls Fire Department will take over.

People in Swan Valley have concerns about this. The mayor of Irwin said he isn’t happy about it, but there isn’t anything he can do.

The Idaho Falls fire chief said the goal isn’t to change service in Swan Valley.
He said the intent is to have more availability for the whole system to provide service.

“I think they’re doing a great job up there. It’s really our job to continue that service,” said Chief Dave Hanneman. “Our next steps are finalizing our budget and taking our ambulance fund budget to our City Council for approval, they still need to approve this plan, and then we would work towards hiring laterals.”

Those laterals can be people who already work in Swan Valley.

This will go into effect in October.