San Rafael, Marinwood Talk Consolidation

The city of San Rafael and the Marinwood Community Services District are working to consolidate their independent fire departments. 

A working group met Thursday in a closed session in  San Rafael to discuss the transition. The group includes fire department officials from both agencies as well as San Rafael and Marinwood officials.

Tom Horne, district manager of Marinwood Community Services District, said although the process is still in early development, the working group is moving forward.

"We're in the process of exploring consolidation of services," Horne said. "The board of directors especially favors an even broader reach of resources."

Horne doesn't feel like the need is financial, but said the response time for incidents would improve.

He described the relationship between the Marinwood and San Rafael as "seamless."

Jeff Rowan, battalion chief at the San Rafael Fire Dept., said there is collaboration between the two stations almost everyday. 

"We've had an agreement in place for a number of years," Rowan said. "They train with us all the time and our paramedics already respond to the Marinwood area."

Horne said grass and residential fires make up most of the Marinwood incidents. The district also responds to incidents in San Rafael, blurring the border between the two communities.

According to Marinwood fire officials, of 1,058 incidents covered by Marinwood in 2009, more than 600 originated in  San Rafael.  

They said a reverse contract to their 40-year-old partnership would add a different structure to the relationship. 

Marinwood resident David Mitchell said he feels the consolidation between the departments could be beneficial to the career paths of the local firefighters.

"It depends on how the deal is cut," Mitchell said. "Moving into the San Rafael fire division would allow Marinwood firefighters more room to move up."

Mitchell, a former member of the Marinwood Community Services District board of directors and 20-year resident, fears consolidating the departments would allow San Rafael to eventually close the Marinwood Fire Dept. in possible future cuts to the city budget.

"The public must be involved in the planning process," Mitchell said. "It certainly would be a major loss for the community if there were a major loss of control."

A public meeting on the transfer in operations is slated for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Marinwood Community Center at 775 Miller Creek Road.

--- Carolina Astrain, contributing writer