Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Winnetka trustees have solidified an agreement between the village and the neighboring communities of Wilmette and Northfield that allows each community to make brief use of emergency equipment from the other town, while defining which community is responsible for equipment damaged while being used in that manner

According to Winnetka Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky, the village has had for several decades an unofficial agreement with Northfield and Glencoe, allowing each municipality to borrow pieces of equipment such as ambulances for short periods of time, usually a day or two, when necessary. The ability to do so has been beneficial to each community.

Discussions about making such agreements more official came up during recent meetings of members of MABAS Division 3.

The previous village council approved an initial resolution last October laying out the liability of communities borrowing Winnetka apparatus if the equipment was damaged while it was in their care. At that time, Wilmette asked to join the agreement. Officials in the other towns involved then asked for a reworked resolution that made equipment liability reciprocal. 

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