Recently whilst dealing with an event, I discovered how far apart my alliance's resources were. It would of taken little over three hours for me to get my fire appliances to where they were needed. This gave me an idea; what if instead, being in an alliance allowed players to transfer credits and resources as well as sharing buildings (so long as the other player agrees). Such a system would allow members of an alliance to help out their friends without the afternoon-long wait.
However a system of loaning vehicles or personnel could not be instant (unless paid for by coins), but it should take significantly less time than what it would take do send vehicles to calls manually. This system would also allow the allocation of resources outwith the reach of your own personal stations. To ensure resources were given back, each would be loaned on a timer (maximum of 24 hours or so) which would then automatically send the resources back to their rightful owner.
Building sharing would only include fire schools and hospitals, as this would create a more community-like feel to the multiplayer aspect of the game.
All in all, these ideas were thought up to benefit the player by allowing them to help their friends and alliance members like never before. This should really build a strong team spirit sense of the game, as everyone is working for each other.
