Fire dispute flares

By ILENE OLSON
Tribune News Editor

The Frannie-Deaver fire district is a done deal, but the fireworks aren’t over.

On Tuesday, angry members of the Park County Fire Protection District No. 1 in Powell fumed over remarks by Big Horn County Commission Chairman Keith Grant shortly after the commission approved the new district.

The new district, Big Horn County Fire Protection District 5, was carved out of the Powell District on March 5.

In a story published in the Lovell Chronicle on March 13, Grant said the Powell district board closed the Frannie Fire Hall in 2005 because the Powell Fire Hall had an open bar, and that raised the district’s insurance rate.

District board members repeatedly have said they closed the Frannie Fire Hall because firefighters there were not properly trained, and there often were not enough firefighters on duty to properly man the fire truck.

But Grant said that wasn’t really the reason.

“Keith Grant lambasted our fire department,” fire hall manager Jim Liner told the board during its monthly meeting on Tuesday. “He lied through his teeth.”

Fire Chief Joey Darrah said, “(Grant) sat through that meeting. He heard it all — not just from you guys, but from the insurance guy.

“He just had to get his digs in. He was as nice as he could be when we were there.”

The “insurance guy” Darrah referred to is Jim Beukelman, president of Nelson Insurance, which insures the district. Beukelman spoke to the board about insurance issues during an annual review in 2005.

On Wednesday, Beukelman said Grant’s statement about an open bar increasing the district’s insurance rate was not correct.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “It didn’t have anything to do with that.

“When we write insurance, we submit to the company those policies and procedures. The insurance company then looks at those and determines whether they are appropriate or not. These are, and they were willing to insure them.

“I advised the fire department board that they need to continue to follow their standard operating procedures as indicated in the manuals. There is nothing more that came from the company.

“Fire districts are to have procedures in place, and they are expected to follow them.”

Those procedures generally include maintaining equipment and training firemen properly, he said.

Liner said the Powell Fire District’s standard operating procedures follow the national Fire Protection Agency’s recommendations for training firefighters and manning fire trucks.

Darrah has said those requirements often were not met in Frannie, due in part to the retirement of experienced firefighters and insufficient recruits and training to replace them.

Darrah said he sent Grant an e-mail protesting his statement and his portrayal of the fire department.

Board members asked Darrah to send the letter to the entire three-member commission. They also authorized Darrah and other district representatives to attend the next meeting of the Big Horn County Commission to address the matter in person.
Darrah and board members wondered why Grant would say something like that, now that the district is split, assets divided and animosities seemed to be put behind them.

Board member Mark Copenhaver said, “I think we’ve treated them real nice.”