From the Chicago Tribune: The adjoining Chicagoland suburbs of Alsip, Chicago Ridge and Oak Lawn have signed on to a feasibility study by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus that explores merging some function of their fire departments or consolidating them into a single fire protection district.

Currently, Chicago Ridge has two fire stations and 31 full-time and paid-on-call personnel, Oak Lawn has three stations and 88 full-time firefighting positions, and Alsip has two stations and 39 full-time firefighters. The three departments combined serve nearly 85,000 residents.