BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
When residents of the north end of Big Horn County set out to form a fire district to cover the areas of Deaver and Frannie in March, their sights were set on December 2008 to begin fire protection. They prepared by building and acquiring buildings to house operations in each town, forming a board of directors and receiving and readying equipment like trucks, air packs and bunkers. Volunteers are training.
Now, with all their ducks seemingly in a row, the district waits to take over fire protection from the Powell district from which their boundaries were carved.
But it hasn’t happened yet.
Though Big Horn County Fire Protection District No. 5 (Deaver-Frannie) is ready to go, legal issues have put a halt to the takeover, said Clay Ward, chairman of the DFFD board.
“The biggest issue is where the liability would lie if Powell passed those funds on through to us,” Ward said. “It’s a question of liability and Powell is not going to send the money through with that liability question.”
As of Monday, the DFFD has received tax money from Big Horn County for the area, but awaits the money from the Park County assessor. Park County funds have been slow coming because of fears that by giving tax money to the DFFD, the Park County district could still be held liable in the case of an accident or injury, Ward said.
In an attempt to clarify the liability issue, organizers asked for an opinion from the Attorney General’s office in Cheyenne in November. The inquiry asked which fire district should receive the tax dollars for the area found inside the DFFD borders and when the DFFD takes responsibility for fire protection in the area.
In response, the Attorney General’s Office drafted an eight-page letter dated Dec. 15. In a section labeled “short answers,” the letter states the Park County district should receive taxes collected for the DFFD area, and then immediately pay those taxes to the newly formed district. The letter states that DFFD should take over fire protection for the area in December of 2008, pursuant with a contract agreement between the two districts.
After receiving the letter, Ward said DFFD organizers interpreted it to be in their favor, but others in Park County don’t feel the same.
“We feel the ruling was in our favor,” Ward said. “Powell’s attorney feels that the liability still applies with them.”
He said DFFD supporters have been disappointed on several occasions as they tried to get the district up and running.
 “It seems to me we’ve answered every question and concern they have, and they just keep coming up with more concerns. From the (DFFD) board’s perspective, it seems like it’s never-ending.”
Despite the hang-ups, Ward said many Park County people have been helpful and supportive of the new district, mentioning the Park County Commissioners, Monte McClain, Teri Cozzens and Tim Feathers. He said the district has received tremendous support from people and agencies in Big Horn County, including the county commissioners, Fire Chief Jim Minchow and the Lovell Fire Department, Sheriff Ken Blackburn and Lovell dispatch.
Ward, who is a former Cody firefighter, said no matter what bad blood may exist between the two districts/counties, fire protection of the community should be the main concern.
“The people are better served with a quicker response,” he said. “I hope that’s the bottom line for everyone; it’s this board’s bottom line.”
Now it looks like DFFD supporters are going to be disappointed again. Ward said the district might now have to wait for Nov. 10, 2009, to take over fire protection.
“As it stands right now, there’s no way out of this,” he said. “So all the work we’ve done up to this point to get everything ready is on hold for now. It’s a shame because the community suffers in the long run.”
In other news
DFFD dispatching was discussed and ironed out at an inter-agency meeting Friday in Deaver, Ward said. He said 911 calls from the 664 area will go to Park County dispatch. Park County will send an ambulance if needed and immediately roll the call over to Lovell dispatch, from where the DFFD will be paged on the Medicine Wheel repeater. Ward said this way of dispatching makes it so EMS has first priority and that no existing agencies will be disrupted by a change in dispatching.
Insurance for the district is in place and a mutual aid agreement between the DFFD and the Lovell Volunteer Fire Department has been signed.
Ward said there are eight firemen returning to the DFFD who were firefighters in the Deaver-Frannie area before Park County took over fire protection years ago. In total, 17 volunteer firefighters have stepped up to serve, he said.