MIDLAND, Texas —
If residents in Martin County around Highway 349 report a fire, there’s a chance that the Northeast Volunteer Fire Department from Midland will be the ones who arrive at the scene. This is because of a partnership between Northeast and Stanton Volunteer Fire Department.
This partnership allows Northeast VFD to respond to calls covering areas north of County Road 1150 and along Highway 349 in Martin County.
“So, it's going to benefit both of us due to the fact that we're a lot closer to some of their area. With some of the calls that come through, they’re basically going to pass our station just to get to the call," said Jason Duran, fire chief for Northeast VFD. "Adding our resources and our help and our members to this mutual aid just allows us to get to the scene quicker and to figure out what resources we need."
With the number of calls having gone up recently, Stanton VFD feels this will allow for a faster response time to emergencies in those areas.
“This is very beneficial for both departments and it's a great mutual aid agreement that we had right here to help the citizens in that area that we're really getting a lot of mutual aid in,” said Lance Jenkins, fire chief for Stanton VFD.
Both departments had already been helping each other on and off over the last couple of years, so it was no surprise when a partnership like this became official.
This only reinforces the bond shared between fire departments regardless of where they’re located.
“Basically, it’s showing that there's a big brotherhood and sisterhood within the fire service, whether it's paid, volunteer," Duran said. "It's nice getting this out and let people know that we're being more proactive within the community.”