Libby fire among nation's best

Libby’s volunteer fire department ranks among the nation’s best, according to their 2014 annual report.

The report, presented to the Libby City Council by Chief Tom Wood, shows average turnout and response times far better than national standards for rural fire departments. In 2014, the Libby Volunteer Fire Department responded to 110 calls, with an average of 16.1 members reporting and an average response time, from dispatch to arrival on-scene, of nine minutes and 46 seconds.

That effectiveness has allowed the Libby Volunteer Fire Department to retain a Class 3 certification with the Insurance Services Office, a group that rates fire departments for insurance companies. The Class 3 rating allows for lower insurance rates for both the city and for homeowners.

The National Fire Protection Association sets the standards for the effectiveness of fire departments around the country. For rural districts the standard is for six responders to arrive on-scene within 14 minutes.

Libby’s performance also exceeds the standard for suburban areas, which requires 10 responders to arrive on-scene within 10 minutes. That standard applies to areas with between 500 and 1,000 people per square mile.

The standard for urban areas, those with greater than 1,000 people per square mile, requires 15 responders within nine minutes. Libby’s response performance nearly meets that standard.

The department responded to 110 calls in 2014. Of those calls, only 41 were within city limits. 46 were considered county fire district calls, which encompasses an area of roughly six miles around the city. The remaining 23 calls were out of district, beyond the six-mile radius.

Libby Fire Chief Tom Wood has been with the department for almost 45 years. He recalls his early years, when the department had three pieces of equipment: a 1954 Mack truck, a 1957 Ford and a small pick-up they used to haul around extra equipment.

“We’ve come a long way since then,” Wood said. “Now we have 14 pieces of equipment and 28 volunteer fire-fighters.”

The members of the department train every Thursday night, from 7:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. Members also spend time at the Montana State Fire Training School in Great Falls and at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md. Libby fire-fighters tallied nearly 3,000 hours of training in 2014, according to the report.

That training, though, is only a small piece of what makes the Libby Volunteer Fire Department successful, Wood said. “The support of the community is what makes this a good fire department. We have 28 volunteers where most other rural departments have 10 or so. That makes it easier for us to get 16 people out to a scene, when we have a good pool to call.”