Fire chief warns closure of county forestry station will slow wildfire response

Fire Chief Shen told the Huntsville City Council the state forestry division has decided to shut down the Madison County forestry station, a move that will shift wildland and brush-fire response to neighboring counties and slow response times in rural parts of Madison County.

"We no longer will have a response from here," Chief Shen said, adding that coverage would come from Washington, Carroll and Franklin counties. He described recent incidents in which response was delayed while crews waited for dozers, and said neighboring departments sometimes lacked working brush trucks or were short-staffed when called.

Chief Shen said the closure followed retirements and personnel moves in the forestry division and that local rural fire chiefs have scheduled a meeting with forestry leadership to seek clarification. "This is a serious issue for us," he said, noting that long response delays can mean a small fire becomes a much larger incident.

The chief also raised resource-recovery proposals for the council, including a FEMA schedule to charge non–dues-paying residents for responses when crews repeatedly respond to illegal burns. He said the sheriff’s office issued a fine in a recent burn-ban violation, and the city attorney is drafting ordinance language to allow charging cleanup and apparatus costs in some cases.

The council did not take a formal vote on forestry coverage at the meeting; Chief Shen said local chiefs will press the issue at the forestry meeting and will contact state legislators to seek restoration or reassignment of local forestry capacity.