The Alton Fire Department has responded to nearly 80 fires in the last 30 days and is now working on a plan to share resources with a neighboring city to better protect crews and residents.

Alton Fire Chief Gustavo Ramirez said the two departments are moving toward a formal agreement with La Joya to improve response times and coordination.

"We're entering into with the city of La Joya is an automatic aid agreement," Alton Chief Gustavo Ramirez said. "Pretty much this automatic aid agreement is an agreement so that we can both respond at the same time to structure fires and major car crashes that involve people that are trapped."

The agreement would cover areas from Seven Mile Line north toward FM 490.

The plan comes after both departments responded to a solar panel fire at a home on Cedar Rapids Street near Seven Mile Line, just north of La Joya.

A 22-year-old woman and her family of 10 live in the home. She said her parents noticed something was wrong when they got back.

"My parents got home and we heard the solar panels cracking and we can smell the burnt cable," Leslie Barrientos said. "That's when we looked up and we saw that it was caught on fire."

Ramirez said crews got there in time to stop the fire from spreading.

"It was a solar panel that shorted out and caused the fire," Ramirez said. "We were able to get there in time, discharged the solar panels and the house is still standing. People still live there, but it could have had the potential for a large fire."

Barrientos said the fast response made a difference, especially given how far out they live.

"We live in Mile 8. We don't have pretty much anything close by," Barrientos said. "They would take forever, but this time it was super fast."

Ramirez said grass and trash fires are common in the area and some recent fires have also been linked to electrical issues.

"So recently there's been an increase of fires," Ramirez said. "We've responded to 78 fires in the last month. Seven of those were structure fires."

Ramirez said the agreement would also help departments rotate firefighters during extreme heat.

"As we know lately, there's been a lot of heat advisories and when we were out there in the 100 plus degree weather, we need to make sure that the responders are safe and we're able to rotate them more," Ramirez said.

The Alton City Commission has already approved the agreement. It now goes to La Joya city commissioners for a vote.

Barrientos said she hopes the agreement means families in this part of The Valley will be better protected.

"I want to say from the bottom of my heart that we really appreciate it because we lived it," Barrientos said. "I know a lot of people might think like, oh, it's whatever, but they are doing a really risky job and they're putting their life in danger for us."

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