The Aberdeen Fire Department’s chief and assistant chief will oversee the Hoquiam Fire Department after Hoquiam Chief Paul Dean retires on Oct. 1.

In Wednesday’s Aberdeen City Council meeting, the council unanimously approved the report that makes it so Aberdeen Fire Chief Tom Hubbard and Assistant Chief Rich Malizia will oversee Hoquiam’s department while a feasibility study is conducted to see how the two departments could be merged into one. The two will also have their duties with the Aberdeen department.

A timeline isn’t set in stone, but Hubbard said the study would take six months to complete, and is anticipated to start on Saturday and end in mid-February. Hubbard confirmed it is just he and Malizia who would be overseeing Hoquiam.

“We had big discussions, ‘Can we feasibly do it, both of us tag-teaming this?’” Hubbard said. “Working together, we feel like for the interim period, we can do this.”