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I’d appreciate your vote

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Editor,

Polson Rural Fire District residents: the fire district board of trustees asked me to fill the fire chief’s position just over two years ago. The district had just separated from the city and needed some reorganization. I was instructed to move the fire district forward.

We started with 10 or 12 firefighters, only two firefighters at the Big Arm station. We have now a “team” of 32 firefighters, six at the Big Arm station. They are a team with regular ongoing training serving you better than ever before.

Our response time to your emergencies has improved and our ability to deal with your emergency has greatly improved. We now have Jaws of Life extrication equipment at Big Arm and the Regatta Road stations. Most often our response brings 15 to 20 well-trained firefighters to the incident.

One highlight is our ISO insurance rating. We were tested by ISO and were able to improve our insurance rating from a nine to a six for all that live within five road miles of any of our three fire stations. This certainly shows our improved response and capability. It also has the potential to save district residents hundreds of dollars on their homeowner’s insurance costs.

We are now better equipped with firefighter safety gear and equipment to do the job. Two excess property, military all-wheel drive Freightliner trucks have been acquired and are being built into additional water tender/ tactical engines. All of this has been accomplished staying within the current budget, in fact even after a $40,000 loss in the budget due to the dam changing hands.

I have retired from my temporary position of fire chief and the board of trustees has hired a very capable replacement.

I would now like to represent you as a Polson Rural Fire District board member. No agenda, I would just like to continue to help this fire district and the team of firefighters continue to provide you with the best fire and life safety service possible.

Please vote and I would appreciate your vote. Thank you.

Paul Laisy
Polson

 

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