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GoogleBourbon County Commissioners have publicly announced their support of Bourbon County District 3 Fire Department as former volunteers attempt to have the Hiattville Fire Department removed from Fire District 3.
"I certainly don't have a problem supporting District 3," Bourbon County Commission Chairman Terry Graham said. "District 3 is a way to protect (the citizens)."
Commissioners heard former volunteers Ronnie Brown and David and Sharon Middleton explain their reasoning for the proposed secession from the district during the meeting on April 10. The volunteers informed the commission they were subject to verbal abuse and mistreatment including removal from officer positions and unjustified disciplinary action. Warren and Irene Schooley were also on hand to express their concern for their own fire protection.
The following week, April 17, 22 representatives of Hiattville, Garland, Fulton, Devon, Uniontown, and Mapleton fire stations, Bourbon County chapter of American Red Cross, Bourbon County Sheriff's Office, Fort Scott Community College, and Emergency Management filled the commissioners room to offer their rebuttal and ask the commission's support.
Bourbon County District 3 Fire Chief Delwin Mumbower asked for the commission's public support and opened the floor to those in attendance to explain why they would like the commission's support.
According to statements made during the meeting, the main concern is the in adequate level of training which the former volunteers have completed. Specifically medical training and training in the National Incident Management System.
"As I understand it, those people from the Hiatteville region have either refused to or resisted NIMS training as required by the federal government," Bourbon County Emergency Manager Keith Jeffers said.
Jeffers added if the secession is successful, the training would still need to be completed.
"If they do split off, they will still have to do this training or they won't be certified as a fire department," Jeffers said. "If they don't do the training, they can't get money."
Other concerns are the cost and the equipment. Mumbower said the equipment at the station now was purchased by the district for the district. He said if the secession happened, the equipment would likely go to another station. Bourbon County Clerk Joanne Long said the station would only have approximately $30,000 per year to operate on.
The issue has been going on for about a year and First Vice President of the Kansas State Firefighter's Association J. L. Ellis was brought in as a mediator to help resolve the situation.
"I also spoke to each group concerning the Hiattville station opting out of the fire district," Ellis said in a letter to the commission. "With the limited information I was given, I cannot believe this is in the best interests of the firefighters, fire department, or citizens of the fire district. I remain optimistic that a suitable solution can be found to what I believe is a deep-seated conflict in personalities and organizational vision."
J. W. "Jingles" Endicott expressed his support of the district however he also expressed his concern for the lack of communication between all stations in the county.
"Everybody should be working together and I don't think that has been the case sometimes," Endicott said.
The commission informed the former volunteers to present a petition with signatures representing 10 percent of land owners in the proposed secession area. When the petition is presented the commission will then decide whether to accept or deny the request. If the request is accepted, the Bourbon County District 3 Fire Department will have 30 days to present a protest petition with signatures representing 19 percent of the proposed secession area. The commission will again make the decision to accept or deny the petition. According to Long, the process needs to be completed by July 1 in order to be included on this years taxes.
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This opinion is intended for the citizens of the Pawnee Station, Hiattville and Porterville areas, in regards to emergency services as relates to the fire department.
I have been a member of Bourbon County Fire District 3 for 22 years and I have personally seen this department grow into the professional fire department that it is today.
The services currently provided to these areas include, fire suppression, emergency medical response, response to motor vehicle accidents and any other hazardous condition that may arise. The department that provides these services is Bourbon County Fire District 3 which has fire stations located at Hiattville, Uniontown, Bronson, Mapleton, Devon and Fulton. All of these stations provide support to each other, the reason for forming a District in the first place. The volunteer members of these stations all work together to provide an adequate and qualified response to emergencies. The volunteers work together and train together and because of that, trust each other.
Bourbon County Fire District 3 was formed by the Bourbon County Commission and a Board of Trustees were formed and charged by the commission with managing the District by establishing policies and guidelines, by majority rule, to ensure a qualified and appropriate response to all foreseeable hazards. Bourbon County Fire District 3 has made great progress over the years in establishing a modern fire department with trained members, certified as firefighters by the University of Kansas and members trained and certified in the medical field by the Kansas State Board of Emergency Medical Services. The governing Board of District 3 has been proactive in Bourbon County Emergency Management and with working together with other agencies, both in Bourbon County and bordering Bourbon County, to ensure the management of emergencies when they occur.
There are currently a few individuals that have decided to carry a petition for the Hiattville Fire Station to be detached from Bourbon County Fire District 3.
It is agreed by the members of Bourbon County Fire District 3, that to detach the Hiattville Fire Station from District 3 would be a step backwards of several years of progress and would not be in the best interest of the citizens of the Pawnee Station, Hiattville and Porterville area.
During a meeting with the Bourbon County Commission on April 17th, it was also agreed by all three commissioners that they support the efforts of District 3, as was agreed by the American Red Cross, Bourbon County Sheriff's Department and Garland Fire District # 2.
While working with the other volunteers for 22 years, the following I know to be true. The Board of Trustees of Bourbon County Fire District 3, through countless hours of work establishing a framework for all stations within the District to best prepare and respond to emergencies, and firefighters throughout District 3, who have committed thousands of hours to training, planning and working together, remain dedicated to providing the best emergency service possible to all citizens of Bourbon County Fire District 3 and pray that no citizen would sign any petition for the Hiattville Station to leave District 3.
Bourbon County Fire District 3 will remain committed to protecting life, property and the environment in our community by providing rapid and professional fire suppression, medical and rescue services and response to other related emergencies. This will continue to be accomplished by professionally trained personnel, through teamwork and innovation, utilizing the personnel and resources provided by our community.
I beleive the only persons that should be involved in this topic are those living within the Hiattville Fire Dept response area, not all of District #3. With that said, I do live in the response area and and concerned with several issues
1)Currently there are only 4 volunteers; our ISO rating is currently 9; when does it go to 10?
2)A current volunteer threatened to shoot certain volunteers if they responded to a fire at his home
3)The above incident was reported to the county attorney and no charges were filed
4)Delwin Mumbower removed the previous officers and replaced them with persons reportedly close to him
5)It appears Delwin Mumbower decides who will be chief and assistant chief at each station, and then these individuals vote to retain him. This appears to be a circular reference. Something needs to change!
Well, I don't live within the Hiattville Fire Dept response area but will post a response anyway (if you don't want to read it, then go on to the next post). My thinking is that if Hiatville only has 4 volunteers at the current time, they are not going to be able to handle a large fire or multiple fires which may occur at the same time (as we've seen with some grass fires recently). That being the case, I'd think they would want to have the support of the other stations in the district so they can call for mutual aid in those cases. If you don't have the manpower, you will see your ISO rating jump to 10 and stay there. I'm not a fan of those who currently "run" the rural fire operations. But we need them until the County Commission (or whoever else may be responsible for appointing these folks) sees fit to make a change. It looks to me as if the Hiatville station has very little to gain and much more to lose if they split away from the others. It's hard to fight a fire if you don't have the proper equipment or training to do so.
x****7 - I disagree with you. Since the actions of those few individuals would effect everyone in District 3, I believe that this involves everyone of District 3. Also, I would much rather have two or three WELL TRAINED firefighters, who could do the job safely and efficently, than a dozen firefighters who did not know what they were doing and whos actions would put the lives of others in danger. A responder who can't do the job is not much of a responder. Also, as a citizen of Bourbon County, god forbid I ever have an emergency, but if I do, I would feel safe knowing that the members of District 3 Fire who would be responding are more than qualified, and could do whatever job was required of them. District 3 personnel continuously train and learn, which allows them to provide the best quality of care possible. How can you expect to be able to do a job without taking the time to train and learn? You wouldn't place your life in the hands of a doctor who had no training, why should a fire department have any less of a standard? I know this: citizens of Bourbon County can rest peacefully at night knowing that if there is an emergency, there are qualifed individuals from District 3 to respond. I fear that if Hiattville chooses to leave District 3, they are putting themselves and their families and properties at risk.
To Whom It May Concern I believe that some facts of the situation at hand need to be presented to the public. First of all in this issue as the article above stated former members of district three that were removed from the district per due process legally outlined in the district three guidelines and standard operational procedures are the root or at least part of the root of the problems. These individuals were officers of the hiatville station for one year as per the guidlines. At the end of the year elections were held and these individuals did not gain the proper amount of votes to be reinstated into their respective offices. Concerning the comments over the people voted in to take their place by a FAIR election process. When we have our elections we then turn in a list of elected officers and turn it into the county commissioners for their approval. So as you can see by this process is FAIR and Mr.Mumbower has no dealings with the appointing of officers other than delivering station election results to the commissioners!
As to the comments about personnel in hiatville I have no idea where the number 4 came from as there are currently 7 members on the hiatville station roster and more volunteers to come in the near future thanks to the officers in place as of this moment. This personnel number mess up is obviously a rumor going around as is much of the information being spread by a group of individuals. The public in this community and within the District for that manner need to go to the Officers and members of Hiatville and other stations in the district and get the FACTS before making stupid and down right ridiculous accusations about what is going on. We the members of the district would be more than happy to tell you the FACTS!
AS to the concerns of ISO ratings, you need to get on the internet and research this a little bit. I myself do not know that much about them but I know this much if your rating goes from a nine to a ten its getting worse not better, and if this group is victorious in what they are trying(which they will not be!)there will not even be an ISO rating because they will not have the necessary basic equipment to even sustain one. (I may be a bit mistaken on this last part but it is something to that effect.)
As to posters concerns of volunteers the only thing volunteer about Bourbon County Fire District No.3 is filling out the application to join. It is our job to train, respond, and protect our coverage area. We as a district have an obligation to the citizens of Bourbon County and we train train train and train some more to be able to fulfill this obligation. Every member of dist. 3 is first aid/CPR certified as well as NIMS/ICS trained. This is true no matter if you are hiatville member or Mapleton or Devon or Bronson or anywhere in dist.3 departments. Every department in Dist. 3 also has at the least a State licensed First Responder if not a FR and an EMT (emergency medical tech.). So I cannot see that any professional volunteer of dist. 3 would threaten to shoot another member!
As I mentioned above several times the word TRAINING! You must train to be good at what you do, and also to follow and meet certain criteria from the Government. The individuals stirring up this mess were not re-elected partly due to their level of training or actually I should say lack there of.
To address the individual that said something about the calls (grass fires) you need to read the post by bc3fdvolunteer again it states why this district was created. I can say as a member that we work well together and each of us know who needs to respond to what and what units are needed. If a station has a call in their jurisdiction and its in dist. 3 every stations in the district doesn't always respond but as it states in our guidelines we will respond accordingly to them. So the issue of a station only having a handful of members so be it. The other stations in the district are there to help.
The fact that you individuals just make blind statments without checking out your facts first really makes me wonder if you are even really aware of all the hard work that goes on right now in District 3. Also I am so angered at the fact that individuals of the county and in the district coverage area can try to form an opinion without being fully informed of every bit of information that they can before drawing their lines in the sand.
It is my hope that this has helped you uninformed or ill-informed people get a much better grasp of what is really going on and what District 3 tries to do.
I don't know who this person with the issues is and were the information posted come from and further more I don't care, the information is wrong. I have been a member of Bourbon County Fire District # 3 for 25 years. I have seen the District grow from putting out foundations to saving structures and preserving property like the paid career departments. I'm not sure where this person got the information but who ever gave it to them was completely wrong.
As far as the comment made about it's Hiatvllie's problem and District 3 should stay out of it is completely rediculas. When you mess with a station in Fire District #3 you mess with EVERY STATION and EVERY FIREFIGHTER in District #3. We all have work hard to get District #3 as good as it is today and we are going to continue to improve District #3 no matter what the non trained individuals think that got thier feeling hurt because they wouldn't play by the guidelines set forth by Fire District # 3 board and Bourbon County Commissioners.
In response to the first comment, see what your insurance cost will be when the insurance companies finds out Hiattville no longer has a rated fire department due to the individuals who want to leave District 3. I think people think the higher the ISO rating the better it is, that is completely backwards. The lower the rating the better it is, example an ISO rating of 8 is better than an ISO rating of a 10. Now there are trained individuals running the Hiattville station who are doing a good job and could do better if certian individuals from that area would leave them alone to do their jobs instead of fighting all the time. You want to know when your ISO rating goes to a 10, its when the non trained individuals get their way and remove the Hiattville station from Fire District 3, which I hope everyone in the Hiattville area will realize what a mistake that would be for them to sign a petition to leave Fire District 3.
The comment about shooting someone is a law enforcement issue but I think you need to find out who threatened who shooting or other threats instead of taking the no trained peoples word for it.
Delwin Mumbower works for Fire District #3 Board and does as the board directs him to do. The reason the BOARD removed certian individuals from their resposibilities at the Hiatville station was those individuals were insubordinate in their duties. Those individuals thought the BOARD was a joke and they didn't have to follow the guidelines that were set up by the BOARD and approved by the county commissioners as the Fire District # 3 Operating Guidelines, and could do what ever they wanted to do. There are currently 6 stations in Fire District # 3 and if I have any thing to do with it there always will be, and every firefighter in District #3 follows these guidelines. This is how we can do our jobs effectively because those who follow the guidelines know what is going on.
This issue of Delwin decides who will be Chief and Assistant Chief has no clue how the district operates and I'm sure were this information come don't have a clue about district 3 operations either. The guidelines that are approved by the county commissioners has sections in them which states the qualifications for firefighters, fire chiefs, assistant chiefs, and captians. The non trained individuals who are causing the problems was removed from their administrative duties at the elections because of not meeting the qualifications as stated in the guidelines. Each station will present a list of individuals who are qualified to be Chief, Assistant Chief or Captian. The guidelines also has qualifications in them for a voting memeber. Each member must participate in a certian amount of training and other qualifications to eligible to vote for their station Chief, Assistant Chirf, and Captian.The Fire Ditrict # 3 board will then approve or disapprove those individuals presented by each station for Chief , Assistant Chief, and Captian. Then at the station elections each year, which is mandated by the county commission, the members will elect who they want as Chief, Assistant Chief and Captian. Then the results of the election for each station will be reviewed at the next meeting and then presented to the Bourbon County Commissioners for their approval. So I don't know who told this person that Delwin had any authority in the election process but they were BLOWING SMOKE UP SOMEONES -----.
Fire District #3 is a strong growing fire department with 6 stations. The district has grown from what used to be, respond to fire calls and a few car wrecks to a district that responds to all types of fires, car wrecks, medical calls, hazmat calls and other related calls. There are several individuals trained as KU Firefighters, Kansas Board of EMS medical responders either as First Responders, EMT's and EMT I/D's. Fire District #3 offered and paid for all the training an individual wants to do.
I think those people in the Hiatville fire station coverage are which includes the Pawnee station, Porterville, Hiatville area will take a long hard look and weigh the pro's and con's before signing the petition that might remove them from Fire District #3 and remove money from their pockets to pay for equipment and higher insurance rates due to the non training or inadequate trained individuals who would then be trying to run the station.
Kudos to all of you who have stood up to express your opinions.
It seems so may people in the country are afriad to express thier thought's due to being criticized or threatened with violence.
I applaud all of you for setting a good example for all of us.
I never thought that in my 22 years of service to District 3 that I would come to realize that not all volunteers are truly volunteers. Just saying you are a volunteer, does not make you a volunteer. Your actions as a volunteer make you a volunteer. These are the volunteers who are a family. I want to you understand what being a volunteer for District 3 means to a large group of District 3 personnel. They developed a creed that they follow in the performance of their duties. It reads;
I am an American Fire Fighter
And member of a Brotherhood
I will always Maintain Myself and my Equipment
And I will never leave a Fallen Brother
I give so Others may Live
First, Last, and Always
I am an American Fire Fighter
I would ask that you take just a little time to get acquainted with this true Brotherhood. The next time you see any of these volunteers at one of their stations, stop and say hello. Introduce yourself and visit for a while. Stop by when you see these volunteers out training. Ask them who they are, what their doing and why. You can find the majority of them at Devon, on the last Sunday of every month, training. You may be amazed.
I have a question to the Fort Scott resident comment. Would you rather have 4 well trained in both firefighting and medical response individuals who will show up on call and have the rest of District #3 enroute to help, or do you want the non trained individuals, who want to run the Hiatville station who in the past might respond to a call, and when they do their not sure what to do? I know what I would want if I lived in the Hiatville area, I would want the well trained individuals that are at the Hiatville station NOW with the rest of the calvary,so to speak, who are well trained as well on the way to help.
I hope everyone who reads all the comments will do alot of thinking before putting your name on the petition to remove the Hiatville station from District #3 and possibly sign their life away.
FYI: As it is now the Hiatville station and the residents of their coverage area has all of Bourbon County Fire District #3 to respond to the emergency calls in that area. If the Hiatville station removes itself from Fire District #3, the station would probably be on their own to respond to calls. Weigh the odds stay in district #3 and have 40 plus trained firefighters with enough equipment to do the job respond to your emergency or get out of district #3 and have a hand full of NON-TRAINED individuals with maybe adequate equipment to do the job respond to your emergency.
Delwin said alot with his comment this am. Fire District #3 is a family and we train and fight as a family. We all live by the creed that was stated in Delwins comments.
Somebody try to stop me from posting, or tell me I don't have the right to post! :)
Last time I looked, we are still America, even though we do owe China lots of money.
Now, I have lived in rural areas as a homeowner for a little over 30 years, and in several states. Since moving back to the Fort Scott area in 1997 I have witnessed the rural fire department respond to many fires and accidents, and I for one am very happy with Bourbon County Fire District #3, and it's leadership.