Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Logan County Commissioners get clarification on bills for fire fighting support: Questions answered about use of Fort Morgan aviation company to fight Merino fire

STERLING -- The Logan County Commissioners agreed to pay two bills for firefighting support on Tuesday after denying them last week because they wanted more information.

The bills from Matt's Hoe Service and Scott Aviation were related to services provided during a fire that occurred on Oct. 3 between Atwood and Merino, east of Highway 6.

Merino Fire Chief Dan Wiebers, Sterling Fire Chief Kurt Vogel and Logan County Sheriff Brett Powell met with the commissioners during a work session to discuss what happened and why the county was getting billed.

Wiebers explained the fire was located in the Merino response area. A train going through the area set five individual fires between Atwood and Merino, one of them  involving a structure, Wisdom Manufacturing. So, they called for mutual aid from Sterling.

"It was actually overlapping area, so we automatically responded to the fires closer to the county," Vogel said.

Sterling immediately called for mutual aid from all the other fire districts -- Peetz, Crook, Fleming and Hillrose.

"We needed a water drop," Vogel said.

So, he called for Darrel Mertens, Aero Applicators, to put out spotter planes, but Mertens didn't have a pilot. At that time, Vogel was unaware that Scott Aviation, in Fort Morgan, was available as an option.

Merlin Gertson, Hillrose Volunteer Fire Department Chief, heard the call and called Scott to see if he was available, and he was. They ended up using the plane for four hours.

"If we didn't have an airplane it could have got really bad," Powell said.

He also pointed out that Scott's bill was fairly cheap considering he flew from about 1 or 1:30 to 5 p.m. and made 13 to 15 drops.

Firefighters spent 30 hours straight fighting the fire. Donaldson thanked them for their service.

A bulldozer was requested from Matt's Hoe Service to get into places they couldn't with just a truck.

Commissioner Dave Donaldson said the sheriff needs to sign off on any invoices submitted to the county.

Commissioner Debbie Zwirn asked when the last time was that they used money out of a fund established for emergency firefighting. Powell said they used them five times this summer.

"I guess, maybe, it was the size of this bill that really caught my attention," Zwirn said. "Then, I started questioning, well if it's in a fire protection district, where people are paying taxes to belong to that district, then why are we paying?"

"That's what this fund is set up for," Powell said.

The fund, which was originally in the sheriff's budget and is now in the commissioners' budget, was started after a fire south of Sterling Correctional Facility, not in a fire protection district, resulted in a $6,800 bill.

Powell came to the commissioners then to set up a fund and they started putting $10,000 in it.

"What my information was is we have a fund that builds every year," Powell said.

Money may or may not be spent during the year, depending on whether it's needed.

Powell said that the bill was cheap compared to what the state of Colorado would charge, which would be about $2,800 to $3,200 per drop.

Donaldson pulled the minutes from 2007 concerning how to pay for airdrops and it doesn't seem like there is any better policy today than what they had then.

According to Colorado Statute, if a fire is out of the fire department's or fire district's control, they can request resources through the sheriff and the sheriff will assume the financial responsibility on behalf of the county.

Powell said he's given authority to Vogel and Sterling Rural Fire District to allow the deputy fire marshal to direct a fire in his absence.

"Because in these kinds of situations, we can't make a whole lot of phone calls," he explained.

"You have to trust what I do, because that's why I was elected," Powell went on to say.

Donaldson asked, "if it's within a fire protection district, which those landowners are paying a mill levy for service, should it be county monies that pay for it?"

"We've got 40 to 45 sections on the western side of the county that aren't in any fire protection district, that it would be my assumption that's why those funds were set aside."

In sections where there is no fire protection district, fire departments will bill whoever is liable for starting the fire.

"I want to ensure that the sheriff gets read into this before it gets delegated down to an assistant fire coordinator," Donaldson said, noting he wants to make sure the sheriff is requesting services and not someone from a fire department in another county.

"I want to make sure that it's coming from the sheriff, who has the statutory responsibility."

Weibers said he could see Donaldson's point. But, he pointed out, "whether I called for it, Kurt (Vogel) called for it or Chief Merlin (Gertson)called for it, the resource was used within Logan County."

"I didn't know that at the time," Donaldson replied. "I didn't know that it had drifted down to Hillrose, along the tracks, and they provided services up into Logan County. We didn't have any information."

Powell noted they're lucky in that Mertens will provide services as long as the fuel is paid for. He said he isn't sure what Scott will do, but now he knows that's another option in cases where a plane is needed.

There was discussion about putting guidelines in place for use of the fund.

Donaldson asked for an incident report for situations like this in the future, so they know what happened, who made the call requesting additional services and the sheriff's role. 


Source:  http://www.journal-advocate.com

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