The Mars and Valencia volunteer fire departments have made what some people might regard as a courageous move in voting to merge. Most fire departments would not give much thought to such an idea, preferring to retain their individual identities.

But if the merger lives up to its expectations in terms of cost savings, enhanced training opportunities and avoiding duplicate equipment purchases, while continuing to provide quick and efficient response to emergencies, the new joint operation will be a stronger asset than what the municipalities served by the two separate departments currently enjoy.

The two departments serve Mars, Valencia and Seven Fields boroughs and parts of Adams and Richland townships.

With the state and federal governments' penchant for looking kindly at joint municipal endeavors, it is possible that the upcoming fire department merger will be accorded additional financial benefits in the form of grants.

Jeremy Nickl, Mars fire chief, is aware of that prospect.

"There's potentially a lot of money for this," he said.

But Nickl made an even more important observation in pointing out that "consolidation is the only way smaller fire departments will be able to survive in the near future."

The fact remains that volunteer fire departments continue to face the tough challenge of recruiting new members. Today's work schedules, lengthy work commutes and people's busier lives in general have cut down the number of people with time to devote to the volunteer fire service.

However, perhaps the new firefighting era that will be launched in January in the two merging departments' service areas will be an extra incentive for attracting additional firefighting personnel.

Understandably, important details regarding the merger still must be worked out, such as who will be the chief of the new Adams Area Fire District, how equipment will be shared, and how budget matters will be handled.

Based on how amicably the merger issue has proceeded to this time, it would seem that none of those issues will be overly difficult to resolve.

To be successful from the start, however, the merged departments will need the uninterrupted financial support of the municipalities they serve as well as the people who attend the departments' fundraisers, or who otherwise donate money to the departments.

In a news release, Nickl and Valencia Fire Chief Bill Rooker said the merger is in response to the needs of the "growing community." The time for the merger is right; the larger, combined department will be able to better adjust to the needs that growth will present in the years ahead.

Two struggling departments trying to keep up with growth will be harder-pressed than one merged department with more manpower and equipment options.

It is not out of the question that growth someday will make it advisable for an additional station or two to be established in the new fire department's service area. If and when that day comes, it would seem that the merged fire area will be better able to accomplish that task than either of the departments individually.

Many small communities are unable to foot the exorbitant cost of new fire vehicles.

The Mars and Valencia departments are fortunate to have an entity such as the Breakneck Valley Joint Fire Services Oversight Board leading the transition to the merged department. It must continue to operate on the foundation of fairness that apparently has been put in place for the communities involved.

It took 11 years for the merger plan and the agreement of the two departments to be achieved. The fact that the merger took so long isn't what is important, however; it's that the communities and departments involved now are comfortable with moving forward — together.

The Mars-Valencia experience might be the basis for other hard-pressed volunteer fire departments to join forces to improve themselves and the important service they provide.