November 18, 2022 |
Carbon County’s fire protection district burnt up the ballot boxes with nearly 69 percent of voters opting for its creation.
Earlier in the year, Carbon County Fire Warden John Rutherford held a series of presentations urging residents to vote for the creation of a fire protection district. Covering unincorporated areas, the fire district will take over projection duties from the county. Fire Warden Rutherford said there are a lot of administrative details left to hammer out.
Pictured above: An aircraft spreads fire retardant near a rural home in Carbon County during the Pedro Mountain Fire. Photo courtesy of Carbon County Fire Warden John Rutherford.
The fire district’s board of directors is made up mostly of firefighters. Rutherford said they are at a standstill until the district goes into effect in January.
Any legal work done for the fire district will be “pro bono” until the county assessor funnels tax money into the program. Once the proper paperwork is filed with the state, the fire warden said they’ll start pulling in funding.
Rutherford has never created a fire protection district before. He said he is in uncharted territory, but other counties are providing him with assistance.
How will the fire protection district get equipment? Rutherford said there is a lot that needs to be worked out
Rutherford said he thinks the fire protection district will operate pretty much in the same way the county does. Medicine Bow and Baggs have agreements to respond to emergencies outside of their borders and send the county commissioners the bill. The fire warden explained the other type of agreement towns can have.
There is a nation-wide shortage of volunteers. Emergency service providers in Wyoming, such as SCWEMS, have been having trouble recruiting people. As far as staffing is concerned, Rutherford said his fire protection district would have a combination of regular employees and volunteers.
Hard decisions will be necessary if Rutherford isn’t able to recruit enough people. The fire protection district may have to focus on areas with a higher volunteer force or limit the services they provide and what type of calls they respond to. The fire warden acknowledged that finding volunteers may be a challenge, but the people he has now are great.
Rutherford said the fire protection district is at least two years away from responding to their first emergency. Feeling like the idea was his baby, the fire warden said he is eager to see everything come to fruition.
Carbon County voters have chosen to establish a taxpayer funded fire protection district. The day-to-day operations of the district haven’t been settled yet, but they are using other counties as an example. There is still a lot to do before their trucks respond to their first emergency call.
