Rural fireboard retains fire chief
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POLSON — With temperatures in the 90s, a ban on fireworks and worries about no moisture, fire is on everybody’s mind. The Polson Rural Fire District special meeting on July 1 was blazing, too, from the stifling temperature of the Fairgrounds Fire Station to the opinions of people attending.
The meeting was called to “discuss personnel matters, moving forward and future with City,” according to the agenda. A major personnel matter was Chief John Fairchild’s resignation as Fire Chief for the City of Polson on June 29. Fairchild will remain chief of Polson Rural Fire.
As he had the night before at the Polson Fire Department membership meeting, Polson City Manager Mark Shrives introduced Clint Cottle as the interim Polson Fire Chief. Shrives said he discussed Cottle’s appointment with officers of the fire department and the membership.
After stating he had consulted with his family, read the two different reviews of the fire department, and decided that the department’s problems were fixable, Cottle accepted the position.
Cottle began his career in 1999 as a Lake County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher and became a Polson Police officer in 2002, rising through the ranks to detective, patrol sergeant and then assistant police chief while dedicating himself to training and earning every certificate available at Public Safety Officer Standards and Training.
“I’m a quick study,” Cottle said. “I do offer management skills that I believe are needed for this position.”
He chose Terry Gembala as his assistant chief.
Those in attendance were concerned because Cottle has no fire training, and that the rural board and firefighters were not consulted in the decision. They also asked who would be the rural fire chief.
“As of this moment, John Fairchild remains the rural fire chief. He hasn’t submitted a letter of resignation,” clarified R. Jack Clapp, chair of the Polson Rural Fire District.
Trustee Fred Nelson voiced concerns about why Shrives hadn’t come to talk to the rural board.
Shrives said the city received Fairchild’s letter on Monday, June 29, and it was now July 1, adding that there had been many conversations among Shrives and rural board members.
Polson Mayor Heather Knutson reiterated that the city had been given Fairchild’s letter of resignation on Monday and were able to find Cottle, who she described as a very upstanding person and a great leader.
“I’ve really put faith in him as an interim chief,” Knutson said. “At this point, I feel like we need to get behind him.”
“I have no quarrel with Cottle’s qualifications,” Clapp said. “But this has been on the radar for a least a couple of weeks. That’s where the rub is. We could have talked about this.”
There’s never been a fire chief chosen when the rural department wasn’t taken into account, according to Clapp. He suggested it might have been better to have Fairchild stay on and work with Cottle.
“It’s a huge opportunity missed that has resulted in something not as good as it could have been,” Clapp said.
Although Cottle has no fire experience, firefighter Karen Sargeant said she didn’t see that as a problem.
“Between the (fire department) officers, there is easily 100 years experience,” she said. “What we needed, Jack, was leadership.”
On the fireground, the chief is not the operations person; he is the command person, making sure the firefighters and the operations people are being safe, Sargeant said.
“I know what to do on the fireground. What I need to know is that there is somebody who has my back,” she stated.
Fire department membership president Julie Sisler spoke up.
“The people that these decisions affect the most are the firefighters,” Sisler said. “I guess I implore you, somebody on the rural board, to speak to all the firefighters and get their opinions.”
Big Arm resident Paul Laisy, who is a retired rural fire chief, urged caution in making a decision on the fire chief.
“It’s not good at this time of the year, and the season we’re having,” he said, adding that people are comparing 2015 to 1911, and the fires may not let up until winter.
He’s studied firefighter deaths and said many were caused by inadequate management or command.
“There’s a job description for the fire chief,” Laisy said. “I believe the person has to be a firefighter. I absolutely would not want to be in that position without a lot of fire background.”
”We’re headed into a fire season from hell,” said Bob McCrea, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Division of Fire Operations Manager.
Noting that’d he never seen leadership problems with Fairchild on the fire line, McCrea said Tribal Fire Management supports John Fairchild 100 percent.
“We rely on these volunteers,” McCrea said. “They do a good job, and they have a lot of training.”
Later in the meeting, McCrea again urged everyone to remember that this is no ordinary fire year.
The fire danger is extreme on the west side of the reservation, he said, and very high on this side, with highs he hasn’t seen in his 40-year-career.
“I’ll tell you this is not a year to be fighting, to let your guard down. This is not just another fire season … there’s potential for people to be hurt,” McCrea said, adding that rural fire departments could be sued.
Fairchild said he and Cottle had talked and were willing to work together.
After much discussion, the rural board went into executive session. They decided that in “the best interest of the taxpayers, their fire protection and liability and due to the lack of firefighting experience of the newly selected fire chief hired by the City and considering the current fire season threat, the Rural Board elects to retain John Fairchild through the current fire season. John and Clint have agreed to work together on all calls.”
