Fire services for the counties of Lexington and Richland have entered a new agreement they hope will make emergency responses more efficient.

In November 2022, the Lexington County Fire Service and Columbia-Richland Fire Department adopted an Automatic Aid Agreement. The two services announced the new agreement earlier this month, saying that it should improve fire coverage in areas bordering Interstate 26, including Chapin, White Rock and Seven Oaks.

Representatives for the two services explained that the agreement differs from the previous Mutual Aid arrangement that was already in place in that it no longer requires one of the neighboring services to manually call the other when assistance is needed. The new arrangement implements a system under which the closest service will respond in the areas covered by the agreement, regardless of the jurisdiction in which the emergency occurs.

“Anytime now 911 receives an emergency call or a call for assistance, both dispatch centers can seamlessly press a button and get the resources either side of that jurisdictional line in route quickly,” Lexington County Assistant Fire Chief Nathan Prouse said.

The two agencies emphasized that changing their agreement isn’t the result of past problems.

“We've had a long history of working together well,” Columbia Fire’s assistant chief for operations, Christopher Kip, said. “I've been to numerous fires in Chapin and we've had forces come and help us, but it's been the case where we make a manual phone call once we realized we needed help and that takes time.”

“This Automatic Aid Agreement will make it more seamless that we can ensure the needed help gets there as soon as possible,” he added.

Kip explained that the new agreement doesn’t impact any existing automatic aid arrangements, including the ones Columbia Fire already has in place with both the Irmo Fire District and West Columbia Fire Department.

“We really wanted to improve the services between the two agencies,” Prouse said. “For us, it doesn't matter who goes to help our citizens. What matters is that you give them the most available assistance”.

According to Prouse, the new agreement has been talked about for years with conversation coming to a head in 2022. During a call with representatives from both Lexington and Richland fire officials, he said the new leadership of Lexington Fire Chief Mark Davis, who assumed his role in 2019, played a heavy role in making the change happen.

The two agencies settled on a similar agreement to what Charleston County has, Prouse explained, using it as a blueprint for their new accord.

Mike DeSumma, public information officer for Columbia Fire, shared that the reasoning for the late announcement of the agreement was to allow for time to iron out the details, including adjusting radio systems to ensure quick dispatches and other general logistics.

Prouse told the Chronicle that regardless of the amount of calls happening at one time that there will always be a unit available to help.

“We have a plan in place that allows for continuous coverage,” he said.

Kip touched on the current agreements his department has with Irmo and West Columbia, saying that adding a similar agreement with Lexington helps unify Midlands emergency services.

In terms of equipment needed for each department to hold up their end, Kip explained that the departments will be sharing the financial burden so that it is spread out over both agencies rather than just one.

He added that the ladder truck that Lexington’s department has will benefit responses to Richland County communities along Interstate 26.

“Both agencies are extremely excited to enter into this formal agreement and the opportunity to work together,” Prouse said. “We're more excited about the benefit this will hold for our citizens and those who are just passing through on these major interstate systems.”