The "METROFIRE Mutual Aid Agreement for Joint Fire, Rescue, and/or Ambulance Service" entered into on November 1, 1981 and renewed on 1 November 2001; establishes under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 48, Section 59A the legal basis for Mutual Aid among the METROFIRE communities and the basis for its' operating plan. This agreement, signed by the Chief's of Department and the community's Executive Officer, is self-perpetuating for twenty years and supersedes all other such agreements among the communities involved.
A basic purpose of the METROFIRE system is to supply and control Mutual Aid support among its' member communities for any emergency. The system has been designed to maintain flexibility and local autonomy, yet to provide a resource base that will insure that when any member community needs assi stance, that assistance will be provided. The basis of that system is a resource rotation system based on approximately one third of each community's apparatus being available for Mutual Aid; both to provide adequate mutual aid and local coverage. Whenever any question of availability has arisen, the Policy committee with the support of the membership, has interpreted the system's general Mutual Aid needs as requiring approximately one third availability with no less than one company required from each community for membership in the system. (Massport is exempted from this policy due to the specialized nature of its' equipment and mission.)
This policy adopts that interpretation as the policy of METROFIRE regarding availability requirements for continuing membership.
Nothing in this policy prevents the operational short-term use of "unable to respond" or "zero availability" due to activity or temporary conditions.
Nothing in this policy should be construed to read that mutual aid is matching or directly reciprocal; availability is defined as a overall system requirement.
Note that the METROFIRE agreement is the Legal Mutual Aid Agreement Covering All Mutual Aid At All Alarm Levels, and unless other written annual agreements are maintained between you and other communities, it is your legal basis for mutual aid.
Policy 1-1 provides additional information related to mutual aid responses.
