Town, County Fire Depts. Sign Auto-Aid Agreement

HUNTINGDON (September 23) — A request for the Huntingdon Fire Department (HFD) and Carroll County Fire Department (CCFD) to sign a memorandum of understanding sparked a lengthy discussion during Tuesday’s Huntingdon Town Council meeting. The memorandum details a formal automatic aid agreement between the two departments in the event of an accident in or within five miles of Huntingdon town limits, effective September 23.

Huntingdon Fire Chief John Fordon and Carroll County Fire Chief Jonathon Gaskins presented the memorandum to the board, emphasizing how important it is to cut response delay time in county areas.

“A fire, once it reaches the free burning stage, would double in size every minute…The sooner aid can be given, the better chance of survival,” Fordon wrote in a request to the town council.

Before, only the CCFD would receive calls outside Huntingdon’s town limits even if Huntingdon’s fire department was closer to the scene. The departments would call on each other when needed. This prior informal agreement had the potential to delay the departments’ response times to incidents.

Upon approval, the memorandum would make both fire departments receive news of an incident in their area at the same time.

“Huntingdon always comes when we need help and ask for help. We’re just trying to shave off those precious few minutes of time for the county truck to arrive [at an accident scene] and see that we need more help,” said Gaskins.

The auto-aid agreement is reciprocal and does not change HFD’s current operations, Fordon assured the board in a written request. Most of the department’s volunteer firefighters already work with the CCFD.

“It’s neighbors helping neighbors,” Fordon said.

Since January 2025, Gaskins and Fordon reported there were five incidents in which this automatic aid agreement would have taken effect. Three involved structure fires, and two involved motor vehicle crashes.

When asked if there was a current disadvantage to either department, Fordon said, “It’s not detrimental; it’s just a delay [in response time].” Multiple times, Fordon assured the council he was comfortable with the agreement.

Town councilmember Chad Barnhart expressed reservations about changing a response process that hadn’t proved detrimental to either department.

On the other hand, councilmember Kelly Eubanks countered that if her kids were in an accident and needed rescuing, she would want the quickest possible response time.

The council briefly considered tabling the request until next month’s meeting but instead continued deliberating.

After a 25-minute discussion, each council member voted in favor of the memorandum of understanding.

The memorandum remains in effect unless terminated by either fire department with 30 days written notice.