DeKalb County and the City of Alexandria have entered into an automatic aid agreement for their Volunteer Fire Departments.

According to fire officials from both departments, the move should improve response times to fires in the county which occur within five miles of the Town of Alexandria's Fire Department. The Alexandria Mayor and Aldermen had already adopted the agreement when the DeKalb County Commission approved it at their regular monthly meeting Monday night. The agreement was approved for five years starting Jan. 1.

The county already has “mutual aid” agreements in place with other fire departments both here and outside the county which allow them to assist each other when the need arises. The "automatic aid” agreement will allow the dispatcher to call Alexandria firefighter automatically in certain areas outside the city limits of the town.

"The significance of this is that in this five mile area, the City of Alexandria Fire Department will be dispatched out on the initial call of any fire that happens in that five mile area,” said DeKalb Fire Chief Donny Green. “The result of having this automatic aid agreement will allow us to have quicker response times to structure fires and to other types of fires that happen within that five mile area. Hopefully this will result in less risk for injury and death and minimize property losses by quicker response times. And to those homeowners who have properties in that five mile area beyond the city limits of Alexandria, they will be able to realize savings on their homeowners insurance when up until now they have been unable to because of their being outside the City of Alexandria's jurisdiction and not within five road miles of one of our fire stations out in the county.”

The chief said the agreement also allows the county fire department to automatically respond to structure fires inside the Alexandria city limits to assist the Alexandria Fire Department.

"Alexandria is going to realize some benefits from this, as it works both ways. We will be assisting them on structure fires in the city limits of Alexandria. Under this new automatic aid agreement we will be called in initially as they are to assist with structure fires in their jurisdiction," Green said.