Fire Advisory Committee starts reallocation study, agrees to draft letter supporting director oversight

The Butte-Silver Bow Fire Advisory Committee on Feb. 3 reviewed a year of call-volume data and launched a project to study reallocation of volunteer fire apparatus across the county, including a proposal to consider consolidation or dissolution of the Floral Park Volunteer Fire Department.

The committee’s discussion centered on a 2025 dataset that Battalion Chief Ryan McCarthy presented as the factual basis for the project. McCarthy told the advisory body he had compiled monthly reports and GIS-based district mappings showing that countywide volunteers were credited on 280 calls in 2025, while the county recorded 5,343 total calls. Only 75 volunteer-related calls occurred within volunteer district boundaries, McCarthy said, and response rates varied widely between departments.

“These numbers are the numbers,” McCarthy said, describing per-department totals and noting some departments had many ‘no responses’ or late/cancelled call entries. He pointed to Floral Park (8 calls in 2025 with one on-scene response), Terra Verde and Little Basin Creek as examples of districts with few in-district calls and multiple no-responses. “If you are a department that only has two or three members, logically, would you say that you can support your district on your own?” McCarthy asked.

Why it matters: Committee members said the data is intended to inform a recommendation to the Director of Fire Services rather than force immediate changes. Chair Josh O’Neill said the advisory board’s role is to advise the director and to present a plan the director can review and act upon; the director would remain responsible for implementation. Committee members repeatedly stated the goal is to strengthen volunteer-capacity and accountability, not to eliminate volunteer companies.

The advisory committee debated timing and process. Some members argued the board should proceed because a quorum was present and delaying the project could forfeit the committee’s chance to provide input to the Study Commission. Others worried absent trustees or volunteer leaders would later claim they had not been given adequate notice or opportunity to respond. “If we go through this and it all makes sense and we all vote on it, are we then back to step one next month when they say they weren’t there?” a member asked.

Data and governance points the committee highlighted included: - Total Butte-Silver Bow calls in 2025: 5,343; volunteer-involved calls: 280; calls within volunteer district boundaries: 75. - Example department figures from McCarthy’s packet: Big Butte VFD credited on 62 total calls (7 in-district); Boulevard 96 (9 in-district); Race Track 73 (29 in-district); Floral Park 8 (8 in-district) with one on-scene response and six no-responses. - Reporting gaps: several volunteer departments have not filed trustee meeting minutes with the county Clerk and Recorder on a regular basis and some departments submit incomplete or late monthly call reports, the committee was told.

Trustee oversight and records were an immediate concern. Committee member Jake Hanley said he had attempted to obtain trustee meeting minutes from the Clerk and Recorder and found that, except for one Race Track filing from December 2023, trustee minutes were not on file. Hanley told the committee that some volunteer trustees had told the Study Commission they file minutes monthly, but the Clerk’s office had no record of such filings.

Administrative actions: The advisory committee approved two procedural items during the meeting. Members voted to delay approval of the Jan. 6 minutes until they could be reviewed alongside the Feb. 3 minutes at the next meeting (motion passed 6–0); they also approved a motion to create an official Fire Advisory Committee letterhead for project correspondence (vote recorded as unanimous among members present). Chair O’Neill said he will draft a letter reflecting the advisory board’s previous majority position (as recorded in January’s minutes) that Director Osborne should retain oversight of the county’s fire services; the draft will be circulated to committee members for review and, if legally permitted, submitted to the Study Commission by the following Monday.

What’s next: The committee tasked staff and members to keep compiling and verifying call-volume and roster data, to identify operational steps required for any apparatus reallocation (facility fit, pump tests, staffing implications, mutual-aid impacts) and to circulate a draft letter for the Study Commission. Members emphasized the committee will present recommendations to the Director of Fire Services rather than unilaterally reassign equipment.

The meeting adjourned at 7:28 p.m.