BUTTE — Volunteer firefighters in Butte are concerned that proposed revisions to fire protection laws within the consolidated government of Butte-Silver Bow will be detrimental to rural fire services. But a state legislator who drafted the bill says it returns power to the citizens.
"I’m flat-out tired and over the battle. It’s been looming over my entire career both in volunteer and on the paid department," says Senator Derek Harvey, SD-37. He addressed constituents about a bill he supports that he hopes will clear up differences between volunteer and paid departments at a recent town hall meeting in Butte.
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Senator Harvey has worked as a firefighter for more than two decades, and he says House Bill 547 amends language in a law introduced nearly half a century ago to give oversight power of 11 rural districts to a single director of fire services.
"This is about returning the power back to Butte-Silver Bow citizens. A... 1979 when this bill was passed, it stripped that power away from the citizens of Butte-Silver Bow," says Sen Harvey.
He says passage of the 1979 law and an opinion by a Montana Attorney General in 1987 have confused the original will of the people and ignited a decades-long power struggle between rural and paid departments.
"This does not get rid of volunteer fire departments. What this does is it makes sure we are going through one fire service director to have that ultimate oversight."
Volunteer firefighters are opposed to revisions which Senator Havey says include eliminating the board of trustees for individual districts and shifts the power to the director of fire services.
Volunteer firefighters say the power shift may impact volunteerism among other things.
"You know, volunteerism is pretty tough to come by these days and you know if we were to make big changes at the local government level then you could see a diminished amount of volunteers in the fire service," says Jason Willoughby, the board chair for Racetrack Rural Fire District.
"You could see longer response times. You could see a change to how that service is delivered. They could see changes in their insurance rates for their properties that they own in the rural areas."
"This will not get rid of volunteer fire departments. This is giving power back to the local government so we can have one commander overseeing and administering that budget," says Sen. Harvey. He did not say how insurance could be impacted.
