LVA, LVFD officials state their case

(LVA, LVFD officials submitted this article to The Western News.)

“Enough is enough” say Libby emergency services leaders.

Responding to criticisms of not cooperating, two of Libby’s emergency services leaders say it’s time to hear the truth regarding the intention behind a lawsuit filed against their department by Cabinet View Fire Department.

“This has gone on too long.  We have ridden the high road, stayed relatively silent, and have been politically correct since 2007.  This is truly beginning to damage our good reputation.  

“Enough is enough,” said Craig Schultz, President of Libby Volunteer Ambulance’s Board of Directors, one of several emergency services that has been sued by Cabinet View over dispatching and interagency agreements.

“The facts speak for themselves.  And unfortunately, a group of dedicated volunteers are now heading down the road of disaster led by a few irrational leaders.” 

Specifically, Schultz is referring to Dan Leavell, Chief of Cabinet View.  “He says we aren’t willing to work with them.”

“We tried.  He says we’ve closed the door on them, and repeatedly we’ve offered assistance and training.  He snubbed us,” Schultz said.  “And now he demands that we follow his protocols, respond to emergencies at his command, and be a secondary EMS system only to be called when he says.  Sorry, but that plan borders on insanity.  Then to file suite against us?”

Tom Wood, chief of Libby Volunteer Fire Department, agrees with Schultz.  

“I’m exasperated by him,” Wood said, regarding his efforts to rationally come to a working agreement with Leavell and his agency.  

“The crazy thing is I wrote letters of support for the formation of Cabinet View.  We’ve organized, and helped train their original fire fighters.  Even to this day their ISO rating is contingent upon our willingness to provide manpower and equipment.  An now, Leavell tells his neighbors that Libby Fire Department is trying to cut him off at the knees.”

At issue is an effort by Cabinet View to provide emergency medical services in their fire service area.  MCA 7-33-2401 Sub 4 clearly states that only the county can change, scope or type of services and boundaries of a fire service area.  Lincoln County Commissioners have been advised that changes to CVFD scope of service exceeds the resolution under which Cabinet View was formed.  Because of Leavell’s persistent efforts to expand its scope of services, the Commissioners will hold a public hearing on June6 to take action on a petition to dissolve the fire service are.  If this happens, Cabinet View could be no more.

Schultz and Wood offer a litany of reasons that Leavell has continued to pursue these services in spite of a Cease and Desist Order by the Commissioners.

In 2007, LVA and Libby Fire agreed to train Cabinet View members in vehicle extrication, and work with LVFD on calls to become competent.  “When Dale Sabine was Chief they began to work with LVFD but when Leavell because Chief they stopped working with LVFD altogether.  They never made the attempt to work with us,” Wood said.

Cabinet View issued a notice in 2009 directing Lincoln County Sheriff’s dispatchers regarding how they were to handle 911 calls in their fire service area and how other corresponding emergency services would work with Cabinet View.  It stated agencies would “adhere to, respect, and not interfere with established Standard Operating Procedures of CVFD.” 

“What about other agencies protocols, which have been in place for years,” Schultz said.  “Theirs are to replace protocols of LVA, LVFD, Highway Patrol, U.S. Forest Service, and Lincoln County Sheriff.  What about the standard operating procedures they are trampling on, the established, tried and true procedures?”

These actions have not gone unnoticed at a state level.  A letter to Leavell from Jim DeTienne, EMS and Trauma Systems Section for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, dated March 9, 2011, directs Leavell from having his members “self dispatch” to medical calls.

“Under authority granted to the department under MCA 50-6-327, Cabinet View Fire Department is ordered to cease response to medical incidents unless specifically requested by a licensed EMS service or other authority,” DeTienne wrote.

Worse yet, Cabinet View and Bull Lake Fire violated numerous regulations when they helped burn down a house this past April for training, but did not obtain the appropriate permits to do so.  

On the heels of having conducted a “live fire” exercise on Forest Service land in August 2011, where a fire was started without permit or permission of the Forest Service, Schultz and Wood both believe the actions of Cabinet View’s leadership is criminal.

“Cabinet View Fire was fined for starting a fire on the Kootenai National Forest, under the direction of Cabinet View member Tony Bacon” Wood said.  “And Leavell got a letter of reprimand from the USFS.  Again, no respect for rules, authority, or in this case, national property.”

Schultz thinks the volunteers of Cabinet View have been lied to by their leaders.

“These people could have been serving their community all along, if they were offered the opportunity to join Libby Ambulance and respond from their homes to their neighbors all under the protective umbrella and guidance of experienced, real world EMT’s.  They’ve just been led down the wrong road,” he said.  “Leavell and Bacom have made a mess of a good thing.  Now they’re costing taxpayers thousands of dollars in legal fees because of an unnecessary lawsuit.  And they still don’t get it.”

A few community leaders in the Cabinet View area have noticed the turmoil, and THEY have petitioned the Commissioners to dissolve the fire service area.

“With this current group of leadership at Cabinet View, there is no agreement that can be made with our groups,” Schultz said.

“The Commissioners really don’t have a choice.  Continue to let them roll recklessly without following the law, putting the taxpayers at risk and lives in danger, or just shut it down.”

He continued by saying “We didn’t dream all this up, ask the former board members, like Jim Lusher, Coral Cummings, Jeff Grotjohn, and Bob Hamlin to name a few.”

For more information, contact Craig Schultz or Tom Wood at their respective departments LVA, 406-293-5582 or LVFD, 406-293-921