NFD part of aid agreement with Polk County

To better deal with a large-scale emergency, the Newton Fire Department is entering a mutual aid assistance agreement with the Polk County Area Fire and Rescue Services. City council approved the agreement at its recent meeting.

“In the event of a large-scale emergency responding agencies from the region would be asked to provide help to other agencies,” interim city administrator Jarrod Wellik said.

Under the agreement, agencies would request personnel or equipment which will be provided subject to availability. The department providing the personnel or equipment has the sole discretion to determine what is available.

The agencies who are a part of the agreement will not charge for the services unless the incident lasts twelve hours or longer. If the event does exceed that time, agencies are allowed to bill for personnel, including backfill, equipment and supplies subject to Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines.

“Only in extreme circumstances would this agreement involve Newton assets being committed to the Polk County area,” Wellik said. “This agreement would allow recovery of costs for long term deployments and provide a large pool of equipment and personnel should Newton experience a large scale disaster.”

Other agencies included in the agreement to provide fire and rescue services or emergency medical services are departments in Polk County, Boone County, Dallas County, Jasper County, Madison County, Marion County, Marshall County, Story County and Warren County.

The agreement takes effect Monday and will remain in full force and effect for an indefinite period of time or until terminated by participating parties. The agreement can be canceled by providing a sixty day notice to the Polk County Fire Chief’s Association.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com