How We See It: Trust Needed For Solution On Firefighting

Monday, March 24, 2014

Who's going to put out the fires in Tontitown?

WHAT'S THE POINT?

Tontitown needs its firefighters, and officials there must work to build trust so that the best solution for residents and businesses can be worked out.

Will it be firefighters highly trained to protect people and property? Or will it be police officers forced by city politics into the profession of battling blazes?

Tontitown has for years had a fire department deserving of praise, but it hasn't been a city operation. It's the Tontitown Area Fire Department, which is largely voluntary but has some paid firefighters. The city has contracted with the department for fire protection services.

Mayor Jack Beckford and the City Council, however, wants the town itself to own and operate whatever fire department serves the town's residents and businesses. The fire department's leaders offered the city a two-year contract for services that would end with the city taking over the fire department.

The City Council, reflecting the level of trust between the two entities, approved the contract but only after deleting an escape clause that allowed either party to back out. The fire department board rejected that contract change.

Meanwhile, the city created its Public Safety Department, converting its police department into a hybrid agency that may be asked to take on firefighting responsibilities. It's a bad idea, but it's the best Tontitown can muster as things stand. It's almost humorous the city plans to send mutual aid agreements to surrounding cities. Mutual aid agreements are designed to allow a town to call on its neighboring communities for backup in case of a large fire, but the key word in this situation isn't "aid." It's "mutual." With such a makeshift Public Safety Department, just how much mutual aid can the other cities expect to get from Tontitown? Which of those communities want to call up for help on a fire and see a police officer show up? We get why Tontitown wants the agreements, but not why the other towns necessarily would, other than being a good neighbor.

Ultimately, Tontitown will need its own fire department. Whether that is now is up for debate. Perhaps there can be a time when the interactions between city and the area fire department can be less about personalities and old feuds and more about creating a fire service for the future.

That's going to happen when Tontitown's leaders think less about fiefdoms and more about what's best for the people who live in this great, small-but-growing town.

The answer to this cliffhanger can be found somewhere in the midst of trust -- the kind that Tontitown's history of turmoil has made difficult to find. It will take people of integrity working out the details of a brighter future.

Can that be found in 2014 Tontitown? We hope so, but we're hoping for no fires for the foreseeable future.

CASUALTIES OF WAR

To honor the men and women in our armed forces and remind our readers of their sacrifices, this newspaper is publishing Department of Defense announcements identifying Americans killed in active military operations.

Marine Master Sgt. Aaron C. Torian, 36, of Paducah, Ky., died Feb. 15 while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, Marine Special Operations Regiment, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Commentary on 03/24/2014