An administrative partnership between two Coulee Region fire departments may be extended while a long-term agreement continues to develop.
Last summer, the La Crosse and Holmen fire departments came together under a Shared Fire Administration, meaning La Crosse took leadership over both entities.
Nearly one year into the arrangement, Holmen Area Fire Board President Patrick Barlow believes it’s been a success so far.
“We’ve seen many operational improvements, we’ve seen connections to improved training,” Barlow listed. “I think it’s really given us a picture of what things could improve our services, where we were strong, and some ideas of how to make things better into the future.” The initial agreement was set to expire at the end of the month, but a resolution before the La Crosse City Council this week would extend it through Dec. 31, 2022.
The resolution was put before the Finance & Personnel Committee on June 2, and all six committee members recommended the motion be adopted during the council’s June 9 meeting.