Timberlake fire fleet sidelined

ATHOL - The Timberlake fire chief has taken his vehicle safety concerns to another level.

Jack Krill removed 17 vehicles from service in the district that serves the Athol and Bayview areas for at least two weeks, maybe longer, until they are inspected by a certified mechanic and deemed safe to operate under national standards.

That leaves just one engine, two ambulances owned by Kootenai County and the fire boat in service. Five of the district's six stations will be temporarily without a vehicle.

Krill said he realizes it's a bold move, but he's no longer willing to sacrifice the safety of his staff with faulty equipment.

"We didn't realize truly how bad it is until we looked at what takes a truck out of service," he said. "It hit me when I talked to family members (of employees) about how we could live with ourselves if somebody got killed.

"It's kept a lot of us up at night."

Krill said the decision is the result of several years of not having the fleet inspected and maintained by a certified mechanic and the district trying to save money by doing the work in-house.

"We're dealing with six to eight years of neglect," he said. "We are not experienced certified technicians to know for sure, but we are mechanically inclined enough to know that we feel the items appear to meet the criteria (to take them out of service)."

Krill said firefighters have had multiple close calls with equipment failures and have put up with nagging problems. He said an incident last week in which a fire engine's accelerator became stuck clearly showed something needs to be done.

But area property tax activist Larry Spencer, who owns property in Athol and met with Krill and a commissioner this week, opposes the decision.

"I met with them on Tuesday and this (taking vehicles out of service) never came up," he said. "I found out about it like everyone else on the blogs."

He said the district has about $180,000 available to fix problems - it isn't required to keep a minimum balance in reserve - and the issues are made out to be more serious than they really are.

"They have the money; he just refuses to make repairs," Spencer said. "The vast majority of the stuff can be easily fixed."

Spencer said he believes the decision to take any vehicle out of service should be made after the certified mechanic takes a look.

"They're out of service because it's unknown if they're going to pass an inspection," he said. "That doesn't make sense.

"This is a clear case of dereliction of duty to the citizens. It's irresponsible on the part of the chief."

Out of service are seven engines, three tenders, three brush trucks, three support vehicles including a 2005 Dodge truck Krill drives and an older ambulance.

Regarding the Dodge, "It was worked on several times by the same uncertified mechanic; it has some very minor issues such as stalling at random times," Krill said.

He said his decision to take the vehicles out of service at once was based on a recommendation from the insurance company.

"I'm not saying the one engine (in service) doesn't have problems; it just has less than the others," he said.

Timberlake's insurance rating recently dropped due to the state of the district. The company has accepted an appeal and improvement plan from the district, but will only improve the rating to where it was if improvements are made.

Krill said residents' taxes will rise with a poorer insurance rating. Commissioners will discuss the state of the district at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Bayview Community Center. It's possible that commissioners could thwart Krill's fleet decision at that time.

Meanwhile, a certified mechanic will begin his inspections earlier on Wednesday. Krill estimates the inspections alone will cost about $8,000, not including repairs and parts.

Timberlake's firefighters union supports Krill's decision.

"The time has come for this district to take immediate and extreme action to manage the dilapidated condition of our aging apparatus," wrote Jake Capaul, union president, in an e-mail to the commissioners. "The public we service depend on us and our vehicles to arrive at their home/business in a safe and timely manner. We can no longer accept mediocrity and 'good enough.'"

Krill said he has inquired with neighboring fire districts to see if they have vehicles to loan Timberlake in the interim. While none have been found, he said he would continue to search.

"We want to continue to serve the community the best way we can without compromising the safety to our firefighters," Krill said. "We understand that firefighting has inherent risks, but we need to mitigate those. If it's not safe, we're not going to use it."

Krill has pitched a $500,000 permanent levy override, which would cost the average homeowner in the district about $72 per year for five years, to bring the district's fleet and facilities up to code.

"I know that's somewhat of a sticker shock, but if our insurance rating drops again, the community will be paying even more than that," he said.

Commissioners will likely decide in April whether to float a levy on May 25. Public input meetings will be held at 7 p.m. on March 3 at the Bayview Community Center, March 4 at the Athol Community Center and March 18 at the Athol Community Center.