Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Residents Want Fire Boundaries Changed

Another controversy is brewing in Gurdon these days.

Residents on the east side of Highway 67 South are asking the Clark County Office of Emergency Services to change the fire boundaries to include them in the Gurdon Fire Department district.

According to Jim Burns, OES coordinator, two representatives from the region spoke with him about the change. He said they asked the OES to go into the 911 emergency services number boundaries to change the area south and east of Highway 67 outside of the Gurdon city limits to include them in the GFD instead of being in the Beirne Volunteer Fire Department.

"When they found out what fire zone they were in, they wanted it changed," Burns said.

These people were told before such a change would even be considered they would have to have a letter of approval from the Gurdon City Council allowing it.

The likelihood of this happening is slim, especially after the annexation issue failed in November. Had the annexation measure passed, these residents would have automatically been included in the GFD district and the fire boundaries would have been changed.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith has spoken with GFD Chief Jake McBride about this.

According to Smith, with the rezoning of fire districts with the 911 system, Gurdon's fire department took in additional territory. He said it is unfortunate the area south of town was not included with the initial change.

However, he said if the city made the changes requested it would have to do the same for other areas wishing to be protected by the GFD.

Should this occur, Smith said, the GFD would not be able to properly protect those in its service area.

"The GFD is in good shape financially," he said, "and we intend to keep it that way. If we take in more territory there could be problems with not being able to serve everyone properly.

"But, the GFD will respond to the area if asked by another department or specifically requested by the people and the property owners will be billed."

Burns said there would be quite a bit of work involved in making changes to the fire boundaries than a few keystrokes on a computer. All boundaries in the county would have to be reexamined and the lines redrawn.

From there, the data already plugged into the 911 system would have to be changed, along with the information given to Southwestern Bell Telephone.

"We'd have to look at the pros and cons if the city would agree to it," Burns said. "We won't seriously consider (making any changes) without a letter because of the politics of the situation."

Burns has agreed to attend meetings of the Gurdon City Council, but has not been asked as yet. If he is asked, he will explain how the boundaries were drawn in the first place.

He said all fire department chiefs were invited to attend meetings to help determine the fire boundaries when the 911 system was being discussed. All who attended the meetings agreed on the boundaries as they have been drawn.

While Gurdon and Beirne were not represented at the meeting, representatives were contacted afterwards and gave their approval of the lines, Burns said.

In fact, he said Charles Bullard, the 911 coordinator, discussed the boundaries with all departments at the time.

However, when this was going on, no one knew about the possibility of an annexation attempt.

In a letter drafted by Smith to Burns, the mayor states his opposition to having the boundaries changed.

The letter states, in part, "The Gurdon Fire Department has already been assigned a larger area than we previously serviced outside the City limits. The addition of more territory could jeopardize the service rendered to our people. The City of Gurdon feels fortunate to have the trucks, equipment and manpower to qualify as an ISO class 7, as opposed to the class 10 of the smaller fire departments in this area. Naturally if given a choice, people would choose to be in the class 7 in lieu of the higher class 10, however the City of Gurdon must take the position of limiting our service area to that which has already been defined. If we allow the petitioners' zoning to be changed we would have to allow any other reasonable petitioners to change their zoning as well. We would be faced with an unserviceable area. In addition, if this particular petitioned change was made we would be forced to cut out a portion of the existing zoning in order to properly service the new area. This would be unjust to the people in the area currently zoned to Gurdon. As another point of issue, this rezoning will affect other fire departments who would lose their needed yearly membership fees.

"Again, if the people in this area in question specifically request the Gurdon Fire Department when 911 is called or if another fire department requests aid from Gurdon, we will respond.

"The City of Gurdon must deny the petitioners rezoning request. Any further action in this matter should be presented before the Gurdon City Council..."

Burns said those who are petitioning for the change face higher insurance rates because of Beirne's class 10 rating. However, he said the Beirne VFD is working to get training which will allow it to be a class 9 department.

When the 911 system was being examined, Burns said, the insurance rates were not looked examined at the time.

He agreed with Smith saying there could be problems if this petition is allowed, because other petitions would have to be allowed and the 911 system would never become operational.

"If we do this for them," he said, "what would keep others from coming in with petitions saying the same thing. There would be a snowball effect and we'd never get 911 service going.

"I'm not closing my mind to the possibility, I just want all parties in agreement first, starting with a letter from the mayor and council.

"I'll just go with the facts and issues at hand. I didn't draw the lines, but effected them with the help of the fire chiefs, who, in essence, drew the lines."

Burns said he's pleased with what's been done so far with the 911 system, which is currently being tested before going on-line permanently.

"I sympathize with both sides," he said. "I must do what's right for all the people of the county. We can't take a select group and give preferred treatment. I'm concerned for both sides."

According to Smith, those interested in getting the fire protection boundaries changed need to make a formal request before the city council and let the council make its decision.