Another California County Agrees to Fire Department Merger

The last of four San Mateo County cities considering merging their fire departments has agreed to move forward with the plan.

The Burlingame City Council on Monday voted in favor of creating a pilot program that would test the merger.

Burlingame already shares fire service with Hillsborough. Under the proposal, Millbrae and San Bruno would join in.

San Bruno, Millbrae and Hillsborough officials previously approved testing the merger.

Officials say the consolidation would save each of the cities hundreds of thousands of dollars, largely by closing two fire stations in Millbrae and Burlingame and replacing them with a centralized location.

According to the San Mateo Daily Journal, calls for service would still be responded to in a timely manner.