A new fire district in the Mayville area will provide an interesting test case for many rural volunteer fire companies in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties.

The Mayville, Hartfield and Dewittville fire departments are likely to have a merger completed by sometime in early July. The new North Lake Fire District will cover most of the town of Chautauqua, except for the area covered by the Chautauqua Fire Department, which covers the Chautauqua Institution and that end of the town, and a small portion covered by the Sherman Fire Department.

It’s expected the merger can save money, open the new district up to more grant money and help volunteers work more seamlessly together. The new district will almost immediately save money on insurance rates, while grant money is often based on primary calls rather than mutual aid – so one new department handling more private calls can get more state and federal money than three smaller departments that don’t answer as many calls on their own.

“We duplicate too many things. Why? Because we operate like an island. The reason to consolidate is to operate like a community and not like three separate islands. It will be safer, cheaper and better,” said attorney Drew Pinsky, who has been hired to handle the merger process.

What’s happening in the Mayville area is an interesting test case. Our population isn’t decreasing, yet our public infrastructure in many instances is still set up for the county’s peak 1950s and 1960s population. As our population contracts the infrastructure has to contract with it – but we’ve been loath to do so for decades. There are a lot of reasons for our inaction over the years, not the least of which is it’s difficult to move from a model everyone is familiar with to something unproven here.

But if this merged fire department results in the same, or better, fire protection at a lower cost, it’s a safe bet that more rural fire departments will follow the example being set by Mayville, Hartfield and Dewittville.