Font ResizeThe two largest firefighting agencies in Denver's suburbs will become one after a vote by the two agencies' governing boards tonight.
The move by the Parker Fire District and South Metro Fire Rescue was prompted by a study that found "significant tax savings" and "more robust fire and emergency services" as a result of working as one agency to cover 176 square miles in Arapahoe and Douglas counties, including Castle Pines North, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Foxfield, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree and Parker.
On paper, the neighboring departments will remain separate legal entities until 2011, the department's said.
They will begin working as one right away, including forming a single fire authority effective on May 1, the fire departments said in a statement.
The authority will be governed by a new seven-member Board of Directors until the two department's officially merge in three years, the departments said in a joint statement.
Parker Fire Chief Dan Qualman has been the interim South Metro chief since last fall. The departments already share a dispatch center, and South Metro hires Parker to maintain its fleet of trucks.
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