City of Union continues mission of merging its local fire stations
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION – Despite a failed vote back in September, the City of Union is still pushing to merge its city and rural fire stations. For those unfamiliar, the City of Union has been attempting to annex the City of Union Fire and EMS service into the Union Rural Fire Protection District for several years. Though legally distinct entities with their own fire chiefs, the two services operate out of the same fire station, share much of the same equipment, and are manned by many of the same volunteer firefighters.
Despite no physical differentiation between the city and rural fire services, both have had to operate under separate management, apply for separate funding, and, most annoyingly for those involved, coordinate firefighting and dispatching as separate crews. Last September, measure 31-118 proposed to annex the Union Fire and EMS service into the Union Rural Fire Protection District, finally merging the services and streamlining Union’s ability to respond to emergencies. Sadly, the measure failed due to lack of voter turnout, only receiving 33.31% of the minimum 50% voter turnout, despite a roughly 70% yes vote from residents that actually participated.
Despite the setback, the city of Union is continuing to push for a merger of the services. In an effort to better involve residents in the process, two public hearings have been planned for early 2024 to discuss the merger. The first meeting is scheduled for Monday January 8, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in the Leonard Almquist Council Chambers, 342 S Main, Union OR. The second meeting is scheduled for Monday February 12, 2024, at 6:00 p.m., also in the Leonard Almquist Council Chambers. Community members interested in the planned station merger are invited to attend.
