I recently have become acquainted with a retired Amarillo firefighter who this morning sung the praises of a decision rendered Tuesday by the Amarillo City Commission.

He caught me a little by surprise.

The city did well in selecting a private company to take over ambulance service, said the former firefighter, citing the protections it has built in to the agreement with the company to protect Amarillo residents. Why the surprise? The firefighters union had lobbied hard to get the ambulance job. It believed it could be more faithful to the residents than some out-of-town outfit that is in it for the money. Northwest Texas Healthcare Systems, which used to provide ambulance service to the city, has quit, saying it lost $1.6 million just in the past year alone.

But then came the mountain of stipulations that the city laid on Colorado-based American Medical Response. Among them are the posting of a $1.5 million bond, which it would forfeit if it broke the terms of the agreement; requiring a six-month advance warning if the company decides to bail out of Amarillo; and the ability of the city to take possession of all the equipment that the company would leave behind — such as ambulances — if it broke the rules.

That is good enough, apparently, to suit the firefighters. My fire service acquaintance tipped his proverbial hat to the city for doing its due diligence in crafting an agreement that provides ambulance service to the city’s nearly 200,000 residents.

I, too, tip my hat, and not just to the city — but also to the firefighters for being so magnanimous in defeat.