FANNIN COUNTY, Texas — City and county governments in Fannin and Hunt Counties are talking through an interlocal agreement for emergency services.
The conversation started after Mark Wright was killed in a fire. Wright lived in the Fannin County part of Wolfe City.
According to normal protocol that most Texas counties follow, Fannin County dispatched all its fire departments to the fire. However, there was a Wolfe City Volunteer Fire Department in Hunt County a mile away from Wright's home.
"My understanding is there is not a formal interlocal agreement," said Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham.
Interlocal agreements dictate how different jurisdictions and agencies enter into agreement of sharing resources. The weekend fire resulted in the following post from Wolfe City Volunteer Fire Department.
"We understand there is some frustration to why WCFD was the last department notified of this fire. We've asked for an automatic aid agreement over the years with Fannin County, they have never followed through with it on their end," read portions of the statement posted to social media.
"We are still trying to understand what occurred," clarified Cunningham. "Is there a need for an interlocal agreement? Apparently. Yes. You want to get in front of the problem."
Wolfe City Fire Rescue says they were dispatched to the fire 20 minutes after everyone else. In a social media post, they revealed they were a mile way and got to the location within 3 minutes.
Fannin County tells WFAA it is their county protocol, and just about everyone else, to call on the departments only in their county. That is how many county departments operate on the fringes of their communities for logistics and resource reasons. Fannin County said the Wolfe City department from Hunt County was only called to the fire because some emergencies require additional aide.
There is a Texas Government Statute Chapter 791 regarding interlocal cooperation contracts that all local governments are to abide by. These mutual aid agreements are designed to create efficiencies and effectiveness in services.
Of course, providing mutual aid does come at a cost and fire departments that are volunteer or are non-profits can be disadvantaged. There also comes the obvious concern of residents of a county paying taxes for services used outside the county.
"It takes somebody's death to be an agreement," said Wolfe City resident Jimmy Creed.
One day after Wolfe City Fire Rescue's initial post there are signs of progress. In another social media post WCFD wrote "an automatic mutual aid agreement is in the works," and "this will allow for us to be automatically dispatched...without having to be requested."
"It's terrible that it has to be brought to our attention this way. It's been brought to our attention and now we need to act on it," Cunningham said.
Cunningham and WCFD both agree it’s impossible to know if an interlocal agreement would have saved Mark Wright’s life.
"He was loved by the community. I don’t blame any of the departments for what happened. My dad would be proud to know that automatic aid agreements are being made and that something good came of his death," said Mark's daughter Quanah Marie.
"What I'm hearing from the Wolfe City Volunteer Fire Department is they have resources and they're willing to share. I share real easily," Cunningham said.
Cunningham says it will take time for an inter-local agreement to be reached. It will take cooperation from counties, cities and their governments. When lives are at stake does it matter where the lines are drawn?