In a continued effort to improve emergency response services in the area, Walker and Whitfield counties have signed an agreement to help improve response times in the more secluded areas of the two counties.
Walker County Fire Chief Blake Hodge said the county has similar agreements with other counties, and this new agreement with Whitfield will improve emergency response times for residential and commercial fires within five miles of the Walker-Whitfield county line.
The two-year, automatic-aid agreement states that the Whitfield County Fire Department will respond to commercial and residential fires in Walker County that are within five miles of the county line and Walker County Emergency Services will do the same for Whitfield County. Hodge said this includes Walker’s unincorporated community of Villanow.
“I’m of the opinion there should not be boundaries anywhere,” Hodge said. “The closest appropriate response should be provided for citizens despite the boundaries.”
Walker County Commissioner Shannon Whitfield said the county has a mutual-aid agreement in place with Whitfield and other counties as part of the Tri-State Mutual Aid Association, which includes 47 fire and rescue agencies in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, but this new agreement will ensure that firefighters in Walker and Whitfield are simultaneously dispatched to fires when the call is first received – not just respond if backup is needed, like in a mutual-aid agreement.