What happens next in the potential merger between three local fire districts could very likely be decided after the fire chiefs meet Monday to consider their options.

South Kitsap Fire and Rescue Chief Wayne Senter said that after the “lively discussion” at the July 7 meeting of the West Sound Fire and Rescue planning committee where the group voted 5-4 to keep the board alive, the committee directed Senter, Bremerton Fire Department Chief Al Duke and Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue Chief Ken Burdette to sit down with counsel Ken Bagwell and decide on a course of action.

The SKFR board of commissioners passed a motion in May that declared a certain amount of frustration with the lack of progress that had been made toward a three-way merger and suggested a phased approach instead. Its recommendation was for Bremerton Fire, which could logically merge with either SKFR or CKFR, to first choose a district to merge with, then the third organization would be folded in later.

This decision caused “a lot of confusion” and a certain amount of ruffled feathers, Senter, said, but he is still hopeful that an agreement can be reached and a merger can occur — just not all at once.

“A three-way (merger) is too complex,” he said. “You have to phase it in to make it work. Make it smaller and less complex.”

Senter said he hoped that “all three fire chiefs will consider what Bremerton Mayor pro-tem Cecil McConnell suggested, which is that Bremerton really is the key and should make the decision, and that maybe there is room to talk about a measured approach.”

The next planning committee meeting is not scheduled until September, but Senter said another meeting may likely be held before that.

If the fire chiefs indeed agree on a phased approach after the July 20 meeting, he said there are a few ways the group can proceed, which include the third agency out voluntarily withdrawing from the process, and the current planning committee either being completely disbanded or forming again with new members.

“If all agencies agree, we can do whatever we want,” Senter said, explaining that even creating Interlocal Agreements between two or more of the agencies to work cooperatively is a possibility, pointing to such a cooperative effort in another county that eventually led to an RFA.

Senter said SKFR would respect a decision by Bremerton Fire to merge with CKFR initially, and “we would voluntarily withdraw at that point.”

He said SKFR was still “hungry and thirsty” for the merger to happen, and believed Bremerton Fire was as well. However, he said that he did not perceive the same level of interest on CKFR’s part.

“If you’re passionate, and your heart is in the game, it will happen,” he said.