Fire districts may seek reimbursement

This letter is for residents of and people driving through Clark Fork, Sam Owen, Hope/East Hope fire protection districts.

On Dec. 12, 2009, my wife was involved in an auto accident on Highway 200, milepost 41.5.  Sam Owen Fire responded, providing excellent support and traffic control.

Three months later, we received a bill from Fire Recover USA for immediate payment of $435 for services rendered by Sam Owen. Fire Recover USA, contracted by Sam Owen, had submitted this bill to our auto insurance without our knowledge.

In my 21 years as a firefighter with FDNY and three years as a volunteer firefighter with Lake City, Colo., Fire Rescue, I never knew of an auto accident victim being charged for our services. I needed to find out how our volunteer fire districts operate.

Our tax dollars go to fire protection only. There is an automatic aid agreement for fire protection in effect. In a fire situation, no matter which district responds, there will be no charge to you. There is also an automatic aid agreement in effect for motor vehicle accident response. However, Sam Owen will bill for services rendered through Fire Recovery at a flat rate based on national standards. Clark Fork will bill internally based on time and equipment usage.  Hope/East Hope has a meeting scheduled April 13 for residents’ input about similar billing.

I do respect the need to reimburse Sam Owen for responses to motor vehicle accidents outside their district. Lack of reimbursement from adjoining fire districts, use of their equipment and leaving their district unprotected make this justifiable.

My argument is about not being informed. We as a community have the right to know what our fire districts actually cover.

 I suggest that you immediately provide this information to present and future residents in these fire districts.

LOUIE BERILACQUA

Hope