Eugene and Springfield to unwind joint fire department over two years

City managers exchanged letters on June 30 to start a two fiscal-year wind-down of Eugene Springfield Fire. Eugene and Springfield will split the department into two independent departments, and emergency coverage will continue during the transition, but the breakup will force the two cities to separate staffing, budgets, ambulance operations and governance.

The change follows the structure created July 1, 2010, when the cities functionally consolidated their fire departments under an intergovernmental agreement. The model was meant to save money by eliminating redundant resources while keeping service levels steady or better. Eugene and Springfield had already built automatic aid through the 3-Battalion System in 2007, sending the nearest appropriate resources regardless of the city line.

That shared structure, however, is not a single legal agency. Eugene Springfield Fire is a name for two separate city departments operating under one public identity, with separate employers, separate budgets and a single fire chief overseeing both. Employees remain tied to either Eugene or Springfield and stay subject to their city’s personnel policies.

All line personnel are cross-trained as emergency medical technicians and respond from 16 fire stations across the two cities. The department serves households across Eugene, Springfield and nearby rural contract areas. It also handles wildland firefighting, high-rise operations, water rescue and hazardous materials response.

A 2023 feasibility study commissioned by the cities found that functional consolidation had eliminated 11.25 administrative positions and cut an estimated $2.5 million in annual wages and benefits, including about $1.2 million for Eugene and $1.3 million for Springfield. The study found that the arrangement had improved the cities’ ability to manage routine and major emergencies, but also that running one consolidated operation across two councils and two city managers had become increasingly complex. It laid out five paths, including keeping the merger, forming a fire district or dissolving the arrangement entirely.

A 2022 ambulance redesign memorandum of understanding with IAFF Local 851 put the ambulance transport system over capacity, outlined plans to move four dual-role ambulances out of transport in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, and called for 24 firefighter full-time-equivalent positions to be held vacant during the transition.