Local firefighters question wildfire bill

A Thompson Falls lawmaker is pushing for more local firefighting authority on state and federal land, but local firefighters and emergency-response officials have expressed concern that the measure will cause more harm than good.

House Bill 481, sponsored by Republican Rep. Bob Brown, on Tuesday passed a preliminary vote before the state House, 61-39. It faces a final vote today.

Under the legislation, counties could authorize local fire departments to engage in initial attack on new wildfire starts, regardless of whether the land is under county, state or federal jurisdiction. It would also require that the agency with responsibility over the land compensate the county for costs incurred during initial attack.

During the floor debate Tuesday, Brown and other Republican lawmakers faulted federal resource agencies for failing to quickly address new wildfire starts before they begin burning out of control.

“What it really is, it’s an opportunity for the county if they’re not receiving the response they need from the state or federal government,” Brown said. He commended state firefighters for generally responding promptly, but added, “the federal government might be a different story. We hear so often that they take control and then it’s three or four days before they have equipment to put these fires out.”

Brown referred to a fire near his home last summer, when he said his neighbor called the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, asking them to respond.

“He called it in to DNRC and they said, ‘Well, we’ll try to get someone in there today,’” he said. “... Apparently they did get some folks in there, but this is what we’re talking about.”

Local and state fire officials, along with statewide firefighters’ organizations, have called the merits of Brown’s bill into question, however.

During the bill’s Feb. 20 committee hearing, no one testified in support of the measure. A half-dozen firefighting professional spoke in opposition.

“This bill is going to substantially create conflicts between us and our partners in the Montana Cooperative Fire Management Agreement, where we have a relationship with all our federal partners and counties and local governments,” Bruce Suenram, with DNRC, told the committee.

He said that those agencies already can provide initial attack, and added that a stipulation in the bill would require the state to re-negotiate existing agreements with all 56 counties in the state.

Rich Cowger, the Columbus Fire Rescue Chief and Chairman of the Montana State Fire Chief’s Association, raised concerns about how the legislation could create liabilities for rural fire departments responding to fire starts.

“What happens when that fire goes out of control?” Cowger asked. “If I turn that bill into DNRC ... then DNRC in turn sends that bill to the federal partner and they look at that out-of-control fire that may have now burned down 15 homes and killed three people, and they say, ‘That was not our responsibility.’ Now I’m stuck with that bill.”

Sanders County Emergency Manager Bill Naegeli said in an interview Tuesday that the county’s fire departments already use inter-agency agreements to coordinate responses to wildland fires in Brown’s home district.

“With our six-party agreement and mutual aid, we kind of already have that,” Naegeli said in an interview Tuesday.

Regarding the Copper King Fire that ultimately burned more than 28,000 acres near Thompson Falls last summer, he said the rugged terrain mostly precluded local or federal firefighters from using initial attack to contain the blaze.

“Our volunteer fire departments aren’t equipped to do firefighting in the mountains,” he said. “... Firefighter safety is the key, and it wasn’t safe to even be up there on that one.”

In Flathead County, with a majority of its land owned by the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service, rural fire departments frequently team up with federal and state agencies when responding to wildland fires. But Lincoln Chute, the county’s fire service area manager, also suggested the measure would only “muddy the waters” for fire response.

“We work hard at it, but we keep our relationships, we keep people knowing each other and working hard together,” Chute said in a Tuesday interview. “We have agreements in place. We get it done pretty decently now. It just seems like [House Bill 481] is going to muddy up the deal.”

Arguing on the floor of the House, however, Brown maintained that his bill will bring a needed push for the federal government to do its job to prevent wildfire starts from turning catastrophic.

“The intent of the bill is, the government does show up and says, ‘Yes, we’re in control of this fire,’ and they put no resources on it,” he said. “If they choose to come in and not put any resources on the fire, I believe the county and the local authorities have the right — and not just the right, but the duty — to protect their citizens.”

House Bill 481 is scheduled for a final vote in the House today at 8 a.m., during the chamber’s final floor session before it adjourns for the rest of the week.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.