Kalispell holds off on hiring new fire chief

The city of Kalispell is holding off on hiring a new fire chief as it looks for ways to possibly reorganize the fire and police departments, potentially into one public safety department with a shared administration.

Dan Diehl resigned as Kalispell fire chief in June, and the position has remained vacant since his departure.

"Whenever we have a major change like that, I like to take it as an opportunity to do an evaluation and see if there's any better, more efficient and effective method of doing things," City Manager Jane Howington said of her decision to hold off on hiring a new fire chief.

Assistant Chief of Operations Dave Dedman has been filling in as interim chief with help from other staff in the fire department.

Howington asked police Chief Roger Nasset to review the operations of the police and fire departments, look at public safety organizational models that are used elsewhere and report back with his findings by January.

The city's fire chief position is expected to remain vacant at least until then.

"As long as there's no threat to either the department, the employees or the citizens, then yes, I'd like to leave it this way during the study time," Howington said.

According to Howington, cities are increasingly looking to streamline and consolidate, both internally and with other governments in their regions.

One possibility being explored is combining the city's police and fire departments under one public safety department, with a shared administration overseeing both operations.

The review is also expected to look at the possible formation of a regional fire district, or for ways that Kalispell could work with other fire departments, such as those in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Evergreen and Bigfork.

"We might be able to consolidate some of our purchasing or EMS or [hazardous materials response]," Howington said.

"There are all different levels, from doing nothing to doing everything, and they're going to look at all of that. And by looking at it, they'll talk to all of the other chiefs in the county."

Previous staff reductions in the fire department will also be reviewed.

Those include the loss of a second assistant chief and moving fire prevention operations over to the city planning department.

"We've had to downsize our fire department, and we need to look and see what the impact of those changes is, and if we still need the same type of positions," Howington said.

Howington said she hopes to strike a balance between cost savings and effective delivery of services. She thanked Nasset, Dedman and other city staff for taking on additional responsibilities and making the review possible.

"I don't have any preconceived notions; I just want to look at all of the options," Howington said of the organization models that are being reviewed.

The review could find there is no potential for consolidation, or it could find some way to streamline staffing or operations in a way that frees up funding to pay for more boots on the ground.

"Whether it's between departments or between cities, if you can consolidate some of those [administrative] support functions, you're saving money, you're being efficient and you're going to be able to provide that money to direct responders [in terms of] operating budgets, equipment and the number of people," she said.

The path forward should be clearer by January, after the review is turned in.

"I think by then we'll know what position we're going to be filling," Howington said.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.