County firefighters at forefront of wildfire program
Staff writer
Marion County fire departments are part of a pilot program creating a state wildfire response program.
So far, only Marion County fire departments and Herington’s fire department, which works closely with Marion County, have been asked to sign agreements to be part of the program.
The biggest benefit is that fire departments will be compensated for trucks used and firefighters’ time.
“What has triggered this is that when we go out on a task force mission, it falls on the state mutual-aid guidelines,” Lincolnville Fire Chief Les Kaiser said.
Departments that have a mission task force and are called up by the Kansas Department of Emergency Management are able to get compensation, but many hoops must be jumped through.
The fire marshal’s program will make compensation seamless.
Compensation is sent to the department, which keeps a portion for equipment expenses, and uses another portion to pay firefighters.
So far, Florence, Goessel, Herington, Lincolnville, and Marion have signed off on paperwork for the program. So has Herington.
Hillsboro has suggested wording and is awaiting the state fire marshal’s response.
The program’s reimbursement clock begins ticking as soon as a fire truck pulls out of bay, Kaiser said, and stops ticking when the fire truck returns.
He expects the program eventually will be statewide.
“This is such an important program for me,” he said.
He hopes it will make firefighting more appealing for volunteers because they won’t miss as much employer pay as they would without the program.