Mayor closes Fire Department

Thought that some might find this interesting. From what I remember this has been an ongoing issue in this town. I don't remember when, but there was a story about the fire chief and the mayor getting into an argument that turned to blows at a council meeting a while back. Bouton is a very small community and I know there budget is very small. They pay thier dept members for calls, and I believe that is what lead to problems with thier budget.

Enjoy...

Fire Department Dispute

Bouton,Iowa February 8th, 2006 - When a tornado ripped through Woodward in November, volunteer firefighters from the small town of Bouton were among the first to rush to the scene. Now, a more than year-long dispute in the tiny community of just 140 people finally boiled over.

Firefighters are at odds with the city. The city says the fire chief and fire fighters wouldn't operate under a budget, but some in the small community thinks the decision to close the department was personal.

For now nearby Perry firefighters will handle all emergency calls to Bouton. The mayor says he hopes to re-open the fire department sometime in the future.

There was an issue like this in SD not to long ago but in that case it was the FF that walked out on the city. According to news reports (we all know how factfull they are) the FF destroyed a bunch of their bunker gear and tools and vandalised trucks. Not sure about that one. I just dont understand how petty little things can blow up like that. It makes everybody in emergency services look bad. Although in this case it looks like the mayor had some definite personal agendas against the FFs.

How can a community of 140 be considered a city?

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Originally Posted by Bones42

How can a community of 140 be considered a city?

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Ever been to Iowa? :D







jes kiddin :D

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How can a community of 140 be considered a city?

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How many do you reckon would be related to each other? :D

I've been pretty mad at the politicians before, but not enoguh to come to blows!

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Originally Posted by Bones42

How can a community of 140 be considered a city?

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What would you consider calling them???

Town? Community? Spec on the Map? :confused:

Yes, we do have some small towns here. The term "city" can be misleading a bit. In the area the term "city" is usually used to refer to the town council and mayor. I think in major metro areas they refer to them as "da man".

:)

Latest update that has been going around area departments... Supposedly Bouton's fire budget was somewhere around $5K a year (not that unusual around here- my dept. works on $10K per year and our towns population is 800). To have Perry cover calls just in Bouton it will cost the city 8-10K per year. That does not include what the city will have to refund back to the townships they cover. Also an interesting twist is that a large portion of the apparatus they have is actually owned by the Dept. of Natural Resources and on loan (another common practice in Iowa). Since there is now no department the DNR is asking for immediate return of thier equipment.

All this over a ****ing match of personalities.

Oh, and yeah..a bunch of the folks in that town are related to each other.LOL

http://www.whotv.com/Global/SearchRe...&search=Search

Here's a link to channel 13's News video clip over the deal. Maybe someone can go and upload the video link direct to this post. Pretty interesting video. Mayor says the town has 1 firefighter for every 7 people........And like mentioned they are $500 over their $6000 budget with 5 months left in the year.

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Originally Posted by Pyrophoric

http://www.whotv.com/Global/SearchRe...&search=Search

Here's a link to channel 13's News video clip over the deal. Maybe someone can go and upload the video link direct to this post. Pretty interesting video. Mayor says the town has 1 firefighter for every 7 people........And like mentioned they are $500 over their $6000 budget with 5 months left in the year.

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I smell a Mutt by the name of Bob....

Any other small community like that would kill for that kind of participation and response.

If he is worried about $500.. how will he fund the "new Department" with 5 months left to the year?

I wonder what Bobby will do when another tornado strikes Perry and Bouton and Perry refuses to come for aid becuase they have to protect their own community....

Oh, their is alot more to the story than the news has said..... like the town members said, it's a personal matter, and from what i have heard about it, i would assume the same.


Edit: But then again, we all know how stories travel. I'm betting they are doing it as a way to downsize maybe. Or maybe the mayor's own way of getting people he likes in charge??

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Originally Posted by lutan1

How many do you reckon would be related to each other? :D

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i live in iowa. orignally from iowa, then moved to texas, then back to iowa. i'm 15 now. this is a town of about 7,000 (the one i live in) and either 1)everybody knows everybody and 2) in some way shape or form, everybody is related. it ain't all that bad though. but I've seen towns smaller than the one the mayor closed the FD at. There's a town called Marysville, not far from where I live, it don't even have 100 people, let alone a fire station. Iowa is pretty small

This is a little shocking to me, The chief of the Bouton Fire Depatment was just at our station on Sunday teaching our Wildland Fire Class. We also aquired a pickup from him to replace our failing brush truck (DNR revolving equipment loan). I just dont understand why the mayor would make such an idiotic descision like this. If the chief is the problem...Remove him not the department. As mentioned in the previous replys the city will end up paying much more than normal to contract with the Perry Fire Department which will put them even more over budget. When I joined our department we were in a similar situation but luckily for our citizens the former chief resigned and the mayor appointed a retired chief to get us back on our feet since then we have gone from 6 F/F's to 19 F/F's and almost all apparatus and equipment have been replaced (within our budget) with new or newer safer equipment. The only thing I can say is that the Mayor & Council in Bouton need to wake up and realize that they are really losing a valuable rescource.

Well I don't know how things are done in Iowa but in my community it would certainly be ironic if the Mayor and Councilpersons homes burned down!!! :D
NO JUST KIDDING but that is ridiculous on so may levels very childish on the city governments part. :(

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Originally Posted by weezride

Thought that some might find this interesting. From what I remember this has been an ongoing issue in this town. I don't remember when, but there was a story about the fire chief and the mayor getting into an argument that turned to blows at a council meeting a while back. Bouton is a very small community and I know there budget is very small. They pay thier dept members for calls, and I believe that is what lead to problems with thier budget.

Enjoy...

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A google will bring up the story. A members of audience at the council meeting attacked a couple members of the fire dept. Caught on videotape.

Parallel thread on the main forum.

http://cms.firehouse.com/content/art...Id=46&id=47435

theirs more of it from the firehouse homepage.

I just wonder how long a FD will last in the community even if one is re-established. Their is no jobs in the town so everyone is working elsewhere, no one is in a big hurry to move to Bouton, the community is definitly dying. Population is going to continue to shrink and for the number of people, any size department is going to be hard to fund.

Unfortunate, but thats the reality. As far as losing the dept for now it's still a ****ing match, but I've wondered for awhile how that dept survived anyways, and how much longer it would continue to.

Does anyone else think of it like that, or am I alone.

not a long time, if the population is dying. i agree with you

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Originally Posted by Pyrophoric

http://cms.firehouse.com/content/art...Id=46&id=47435

theirs more of it from the firehouse homepage.

I just wonder how long a FD will last in the community even if one is re-established. Their is no jobs in the town so everyone is working elsewhere, no one is in a big hurry to move to Bouton, the community is definitly dying. Population is going to continue to shrink and for the number of people, any size department is going to be hard to fund.

Unfortunate, but thats the reality. As far as losing the dept for now it's still a ****ing match, but I've wondered for awhile how that dept survived anyways, and how much longer it would continue to.

Does anyone else think of it like that, or am I alone.

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You are alone because you don't know what you are talking about. Do you understand what a bedroom community is?

Bouton area is a bedroom for Des Moines. In Dallas Co the "Rural" population is growing nicely with large high priced McMansions on acreages (1-10 acres). Is is not typical rural Iowa. The pop/value of Bouton is likely stable. those moving to "rural" areas largely are moving to small towns yet a bit closer to DM or they are building on former farm ground.

The declining small rural Iowa town is something of a myth anyhow. Those that are poorly run are having a slight decrease in pop. Those within 50mi of a metro area, particularily if easy road access are having a steady increase in pop from citizens who do not want to live in a city cesspool.

Restablishing a FD is a joke. The mayor can appoint anyone he wants to be the the Fire Chief. If there is a new guy big enough of a fool to assume the liability of being an untrained/unqualified chief, and Bouton will have a new fire chief. But where does the FD come from. My understanding is the existing FD members are history so where are the firefighters going to come from? Trained would be nice. How many potential FF are there in a community this small? That were not already playing? Very few would be my guess.

Large (2000-3500ft2) wood frame construction, frequently/normally unhydranted, res. sprinkers are totally unknown.

Feb 11 Dem Register

Officials will reopen fire department

Officials in Bouton, a city of about 150 people that has been without a fire department since Tuesday, said Friday they plan on reopening the fire department - as soon as they find a new fire chief to replace Karl Harris, who has openly feuded with the mayor over the past few years.

The mayor of Bouton, Bob Barrows, has unofficially removed Harris and changed the locks to the fire station. Harris was removed because the mayor and City Council have budget concerns, said City Councilman Tim Hudsteth.

"We definitely plan on reopening the fire department," said Hudsteth, who said the change could come as soon as next month. "We have to find a fire chief that is suitable for that to happen."

Harris did not return phone calls.

Interesting given the mayor was elected Nov 2005

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Originally Posted by neiowa

[I]Feb 11 Dem Register

Interesting given the mayor was elected Nov 2005

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very interesting. but it's a very (in my opinion) stupid argument. the mayor just laid off the people who protect the city between a small fued. instead of firing the chief right off the bat, have someone in line waiting for the job who is qualified. as far as over budget, there are ways to fix that. fundraisers, raise taxes a little bit, whatever.... just my thoughts about it