Residents requesting emergency medical or fire services within the city of Fairbanks may be put on a wait list if the Fairbanks Fire Department is occupied with more serious calls. The change to FFD and Fairbanks Emergency Communication Center operations is in response to other area fire departments reducing the scope of mutual aid offered to the city. The change will place lower-priority calls in a queue until FFD personnel are available. After 20 minutes in queue, the battalion chief will determine whether the call warrants mutual aid from another fire department or whether the request can continue waiting. “Residents may experience longer wait times for ambulances in certain situations,” according to a city of Fairbanks news release. The new program is being implemented immediately.