​

Over the last half of 2019, the Cities of Mountain Iron and Virginia have been meeting to discuss possible ways to share services among our Fire Departments.    These meetings were led by John Ehert of the MN Dept. of Public Safety. 

 

After much discussion and many meetings, the Shared Fire Services Committee presented a recommendation to  both City Councils that the Cities consider a full merger of the Virginia and Mountain Iron Fire Departments.     

On December 16, 2019, the City of Mountain Iron approved beginning the process for a full merger.  The City of Virginia approved the same on December 20, 2019.  This is revolutionary news for our area!    A full scale merger is unprecedented in our area.  

 

We are all very excited, however, the tough work is just beginning.   We will be having numerous meetings in the next year or two to discuss everything from the name of dept., the amount and type of inventory, to the governance of the department.

 

This will not be a quick process.    Please be patient with the process and open minded as we work through the merger.    

 

Click HERE to read the Shared Services Study by McGrath Consulting

 

Click HERE to read the Recommendation from the Shared Fire Services Committee

​