Panel backs radios for fire departments

The Daily Inter Lake

A Flathead City-County Board of Health committee recommended Monday that the entire board approve allocations to buy radios and pagers for two rural fire departments.

The board's emergency medical services committee recommended that the Smith Valley Fire Department receive $5,190 to buy two radios and the West Valley department receive $7,500 to buy 15 up-to-date pagers.

If approved by the entire board, the money will come from an emergency medical services tax levy fund set aside for training and some equipment for medical work at Flathead County's rural fire districts and emergency-response districts.

The health board recently began requiring stricter justifications for the rural departments' requests from this fund.

That increased justification made the Smith Valley and West Valley departments skittish about whether they would receive emergency-medical tax money that they believe they are entitled to.