The City of Inverness is thinking about going out on its own when it comes to fire rescue services.
For a long time Citrus County Fire Rescue, which is part of the sheriff's office, has handled fire services for the City of Inverness. Now city leaders are thinking about taking care of it on their own again.
"I think we owe it to the community to take this look," Inverness City Manager Frank DiGiovanni said. "Give it due diligence."
DiGiovanni says the cost of paying for fire services is getting too high, so it's worth looking into setting up a fire department for the city if money can be saved.
"Members of the community came before the city council more than once with concerns over cost," he said.
If this happens, it won't happen overnight. The city still has a lot of research to do. Some decisions could possibly be made starting this spring.
DiGiovanni says if a city fire department does happen it would be mostly volunteers with some paid staff.
Kemper Willcut is the owner of the Pine Street Pub downtown. He is keeping an open mind about the idea.
"We have an opportunity to do a good evaluation of things and make decisions based on that evaluation," he said.
City leaders are also talking about teaming up with Crystal River and Dunnellon, which both have fire departments. The idea would be to share costs on things like training and some equipment.