From the Modesto Bee: "Consolidation" remains a dirty word among most of Stanislaus County's 19 fire departments. But the idea of merging at least some functions to save taxpayer money continues to simmer under the heading "regionalization."

Several city and rural departments have explored combining for many years. A partnership finally joined the city of Oakdale with the Oakdale Rural Fire District in March. A few months ago, Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District dropped out of four-way talks with Modesto, the Salida Fire Protection District and the county fire warden's office. But the latter three say they continue to inch toward some sort of agreement, despite having fallen short in similar attempts in recent years.