A recent fatal house fire in Bartonville drew attention to a little known but vital system of inter-agency agreements that help firefighters get help when they need it. Mutual aid is nothing new. Most people know that if a fire is too big, a department will call in reinforcements or backups. But how those additional resources are called and in what order remains a mystery to most people not involved in firefighting. The fire on July 17 that cost a 4-year-old boy his life has been controversial, with some questioning why volunteer firefighters in the Bartonville department didn’t immediately call Peoria’s fire department. The city’s southernmost station is about five to six minutes from where the fire was, and is staffed 24 hours day. An informal survey of five volunteer fire chiefs and Peoria’s fire chief revealed that they generally thought the county’s system for mutual aid worked well in most cases.