Separated by State Highway 46 off Highway 281, Bulverde and Spring Branch have long relied on Emergency Service Districts Nos. 4 and 5 for fire protection, and ESD No. 1 for ambulance service.
By the end of the month, they'll merge into one department, Bulverde-Spring Branch Emergency Services, according to Mechelle Salmon, its executive director.
Although each will stay where they are in their existing facilities, Salmon said, "We'll reduce any kind of redundancy that we might have."
However, she said all of the employees will have to be laid off -- approximately 25 full-time first responders and 20 part-timers.
"On the surface that seems frightening, but they will be fully vested in their retirement programs and be given severance packages," Salmon said.
She said after that, they can go through an internal hiring process.
"We need them. I hope they all apply," Salmon said.
She said the consolidation was necessary because of the area's explosive growth.
"We know the development is here. It's charging forward and we're just trying to get ahead of that to be able to prepare for the increased call demand," Salmon said.
She said residents who pay higher taxes for their emergency services probably will not see any difference given that mutual aid is a standard practice.
"We're going to keep the same number of firefighters," Salmon said.
She said they also will maintain response times of under 10 minutes.
Salmon said no one department can cover the area, they need to bond together.
She also said she predicts any savings will likely go toward new fire stations already being planned.
First responders who were asked what they thought of the consolidation, said they would wait until after meetings scheduled on Monday where they expect to learn more details.