Bannock County fire officials urge clearer mutual-aid rules, warn aircraft costs strain small districts

At a recent Bannock County meeting, local fire chiefs and county officials warned that gaps in mutual-aid arrangements and rising aircraft costs could leave communities vulnerable to large, wind-driven wildfires.

A fire official working with regional chiefs said maintaining cross-jurisdiction communication and partnerships is critical as personnel change, and noted limits on what agencies can say publicly. "There are certain things, you know, especially in the current atmosphere that we can or can't say," the official said, adding that some approvals must go "up the chain quite a ways to get approval to do certain things." The official also said agreements allow counties' small fire departments to use county/agency ground resources free for 24 hours but that aircraft are an exception: "That was well stated. So those agreements I was talking about allows the counties, little fire departments to use us for free for 24 hours. There is 1 exception to that, and it's the aircraft."

Ryan Curtis, North Bendrick Fire…