The proposal that would put the Butler Fire Department in charge of fire protection for the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center would save money for the federal government and make money for the city.

But the proposal is not without concerns, and the federal government is correct in not making any move now on the idea.

The fact that the federal government has launched a review of on-campus fire departments and fire standards for all of its facilities nationwide makes a move on the Butler proposal premature now.

The plan advanced for city firefighters routinely serving the VA facility, while enabling the federal government to do away with its 11-member firefighting contingent along New Castle Road plus some or all of the firefighting equipment housed there, would pose serious challenges for the city department while earning the city a hoped for generous, annual or per-incident stipend.

The critical issues for city firefighters would include how to navigate busy New Castle Road to get from Downtown to the medical center, and how to leave the city protected if they were called to the VA facility.

For the medical center, the primary issue is to have the quickest fire response available, and it would seem that city firefighters could not come close to equaling the response time of the VA firefighters.

One of the main issues that the federal review will be looking at is how the desire for quick fire response fares when stacked up against the prospect of saving presumably hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money through disbanding the medical center fire operation.

The review also no doubt will consider frequency of fire calls at VA facilities here and elsewhere.

The local plan should be allowed to remain on the table, but the obvious obstacles to successful implementation of the proposal still will exist if the discussion resumes.