Westmont has approved an agreement with four other municipalities as part of a fire department network to improve radio response and save money.

The Westmont Village Board signed on to an intergovernmental agreement between five fire departments at the June 15 meeting.

The Tri-State Fire Protection District, whose headquarters is in Darien, also covers the Westmont, Clarendon Hills, Downers Grove and Oak Brook.

The action allows the entities to share a communication system frequency, which the equipment to operate it is actually owed by Clarendon Hills, according to the agreement.

Westmont Village Manager Ron Searl said the radio system has been in place for some time, and the agreement will serve as the governing entity of the program.

One of the benefits of the addition of the Tri-State Fire Protection District to the plan is it lowers the cost of Westmont to participate in the partnership, as well as the other groups, fire department officials said.

Westmont Fire Chief Frank Trout said all five groups operate under the same radio frequency, and by adding Tri-State, the village will save about $900 annually because it is a shared cost radio system.

“By adding Tri-State, it lowers the overall cost, so each entity will pay less for the service,” he said.

The village also benefits because portions of the Tri-State borders Westmont, and the village will have improved communications between the different departments, Trout said.

The village paid a one-time fee of $5,000 when the system went live a couple years ago. Trout said he was uncertain how much the village pays annually to be in the partnership, but indicated it is a very “minimal cost to the village of Westmont.”