The Lawrence County delegation to Pierre is proposing a measure to ease firefighting costs for counties. Senate Bill 68, sponsored by Senator Bob Ewing of Spearfish and Rep. Tim Johns of Lead, revises a statute that requires counties to reimburse the state for assistance provided by the state wildland fire coordinator. Under current law, if the county commission calls in the state to help fight a range fire, the county has to reimburse the state for the “reasonable expense incurred” if the state sends in more than one state vehicle and more than two state employees. SB 68 raises the reimbursement threshold, saying counties aren’t on the hook until the state sends in more than two vehicles and more than six employees.
SB 68 seems to improve the situation… although I would think that it might be even more fair to treat firefighting like fire insurance, with a starting deductible. If it’s just a little fire and the county calls for help, maybe the state should say, “O.K., but you’re going to pay for the first truck and the first two firefighters.” That would deter lazy counties from calling the state to douse their commissioner’s deep-fried turkey gone awry. But if a really big fire breaks out in Spearfish Canyon, we don’t want Lawrence County commissioners to hold off on calling the state Wildland Fire Division just because their budget is tight. We want them to call Chief Esperance right away and say, “Canyon’s on fire! Send everything you’ve got!” The bigger the fire, the more the state should pitch to protect our statewide interest in saving lives and property.