New fire reporting system outlined in fire council meeting

The Hill County Fire Council had their biannual meeting Wednesday, where Bureau of Land Management Lewistown Duty Officer Don Pyrah presented a new system for filing initial reports on fires, and County Fire Warden Amanda Frickel suggested some areas of operational improvement and a few new procedures.

Pyrah said the new online reporting system is built so fire departments can submit initial reports for fires easily from a phone, a streamlined new system he said will be faster and create more accurate data to pull information from.

He said the report will ask for the county the fire is in, the role of the department reporting it, it’s estimated size and other information.

He said if the fire is estimated to be over 100 acres the program also allows the one reporting to use its mapping software to instantly locate the phone on a map that the reporter can make a rough sketch on, depicting the area the fire is burning and perhaps get a more precise estimate of its size.

Pyrah said this system will replace the 1-800 number used to file reports, but that number will stay active through the year until everyone has fully transitioned to the new system.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” he said.

He also encouraged the chiefs to come up with more unique names for individual fires, provided they are careful about using people’s names in them, and being “politically correct.”

Frickel talked about a couple areas of improvement that she’d like to see in the future when it comes to fire suppression.

She said during a recent fire in the Hingham area the Kremlin Rural Fire Department ended up having to do mop-up work, something that should have been handled by the district responsible for that area.

She said any department is allowed to respond to a fire and assist in suppression, but mop-up is supposed to be handled by the department that presides over the district the fire is in.

Frickel also said for when the active fire season starts, likely in early May, she’s putting together information for the Hill County Commission in preparation for the weekly fire calls, so she needs as up-to-date info as possible from the departments.

She said she’s heard comments by some departments that they want their voices heard more by the commission when it comes to fire restrictions.

Frickel said she spoke to the commission about it and she’d like to set up a Monday conference call to gather the opinions of the fire chiefs so they have more of a say in the decision.

She said the commissioners are ultimately the ones who make the call on fire restrictions, but the voices of the chiefs and the people who have the most contact with the issue need to have their voices heard as well.

“You guys are the ones out there doing the work,” she said.

Frickel also talked briefly about the ongoing drought. She said the area is already in Stage 4 drought conditions and it doesn’t look like that’s going to get any better this year.

She also talked about the condition of the Cottonwood Bridge, which she said fire departments often use but is in desperate need of repairs.

She said funding is available for changes and she is looking for letters of support on the project.

Frickel also said there would be a public meeting for people with questions and concerns about the issue April 6 at the Great Northern Fairgrounds Community Center at 6 p.m.

Fire chiefs also briefly discussed the effects that the Fresno Dam project will have on them.

Frickel also said she will be attending the Montana County Fire Wardens’ Conference in May, which will be the first time Havre will have had someone at the event. She said she hopes the experience will provide insights on how she can do her job better.