The evolution of fire protection in Butler County continues — steady, incremental and inexorable. The progression implies a movement out of one circumstance and into another, away from a treasured but outdated past and toward a more efficient, more effective future. That’s the high expectation, anyway.

The consolidation — mergers, partnerships, joint operating agreements and mutual aid pacts — benefit the public in a variety of ways. Because they do give benefit, they should be encouraged to continue happening, at the pace they are occurring.

On Monday, Butler Township commissioners gave their tentative blessings to the township’s three volunteer fire departments as they move toward a merger into one department, possibly by early 2019. The township cannot take formal action until the state fire commissioner signs off on the merger, which it is likely to do within a few months.

The consolidation began Jan. 1, 2014, when the township had five fire companies.Three of them — Greenwood Village, Lyndora and Meridian — merged to form Butler Township Volunteer Fire District 3.

Meanwhile, the township and Butler city officials press on with plans to appoint a fire chief to supervise both departments.

Elsewhere this week, the Connoquenessing Valley Regional Emergency Management Agency convened its inaugural meeting.Connoquenessing township and borough and Evans City formed the EMA to share an emergency management coordinator when they realized how difficult it would be to recruit three.

Also this past week, the Harmony Fire District was awarded a $10,000 state grant from the Department of Conservation of Natural Resources. The district will helpuse it to help pay for the radio system upgrades that must be completed by year’s end.Fire Chief Scott Garing said the DCNR application specified the grant money was to be used to help rural communities guard against the threat of wildfires in state forests and other undeveloped areas.

The Harmony District is the product of yet another merger, between the Harmony and Zelienople departments in December 2015,

Amid all this activity, a clear picture begins to emerge and take focus. The picture, depicted in broad brush strokes, is this: smaller, rural fire companies will be rewarded for cooperative planning and strategies. By itself, consolidation of personnel, fire equipment and other assets, and public/tax funding would be sufficient incentive; but it will become more apparent that consolidation efforts will be encouraged with legislative, regulatory and financial incentives, too. Specifically, state Act 13 money from Marcellus Shale gas licensing fees and other environmental grants will become more crucial in sustaining fire prevention in coming years. Consolidation also is likely to benefit municipalities with more favorable fire insurance rates. This is likely to happen as municipalities with consolidated services demonstrate improved fire services like faster response times for fire calls.

By the same token, the deliberate pace of the merger activity might seem too slow for some. Why don’t we form a county-wide district and be done with it? Here’s why: We have a patchwork of solid fire companies, programs and personnel who are already demonstrating a capability to consolidate themselves. The process going on in Butler Township could — and should — provide a template for consolidation across the county and state. They’ve conducted themselves thus far without political overtones and a strong level of practicality and sense of fair play. That’s worthy of a salute.

Through all the ongoing change, we’re compelled to pay homage to the heritage of firefighting’s deep roots in Pennsylvania. Ever since Benjamin Franklin organized Philadelphia’s Union Fire Company in 1736, firefighters have been widely respected for their straightforward approach to solving problems. We continue to lean onold Ben’s example and to innovate with improvement as our common objective.