Just built different: Rural fire departments must do a little bit of everything (2024)

To combat wild fires, sometimes western Nebraska fire services need to balance budget constraints with local demands.

For Sutherland Fire Chief Roger Lathrop, that means he has to double as a mechanic for the department. While it’s not a requirement to be a mechanic to be a firefighter, at least one person in a firehouse should be capable, Lathrop says, because things break in the field all the time.

“Somebody can call me and say ‘hey, I can’t do this’ and I can tell them exactly why it won’t do it,” said Lathrop. “And then they try it, it fixes it and they go.”

Lathrop said the equipment that breaks the most is grass rigs because they usually travel through rough conditions.

The key to fighting grass fires on sometimes rugged land, he said, is to go slow. Newer volunteers don’t always remember that, so some parts experience wear and tear faster than others.

Rural fire departments like Sutherland’s are often strapped for cash, according to Lathrop. They sometimes have to get creative to secure funding or equipment.

Lathrop said funding for the department comes from local taxes, a “do-it-yourself” work ethic and state aid.

Maxwell‘s fire Department has partnered with the GrayBull Club to raise funds for a new grass rig. The golf club was prompted to help raise funds after the Betty’s Way Fire went around its golf course.

Maxwell Fire Chief Cody Seamann said three of the department’s four vehicles broke down while fighting that fire. They have yet to buy a new grass rig.

Besides volunteers, local rural fire departments partner with ag producers. Brush fires are often on farming and ranching property. Neighbors have been known to show up with fertilizer tanks full of water or tractors with discers used to lay down fire breaks.

“In that lifestyle that they have, helping people is a big thing, just like their neighbors. That’s the way it should be, anyway,” Lathrop said.

While assistance from locals is welcome, Lathrop said, departments can’t always pay attention to everybody who operates independently and can’t guarantee their safety. Pitching in during a fire can come at helpers’ own risk, Lathrop said.

Local assistance like that can and does free up firefighters to concentrate on other areas. Still, Lathrop said, it’s never a requirement as the department is meant to be prepared for handling situations on its own.

Lathrop said insurance doesn’t cover other people’s equipment. So while they don’t encourage people to help, they don’t actively discourage it either.

“We basically tell them, ‘This is where we’re going to be. If you want to help, you can.’”

Region 51 Emergency Management reports that fire departments partner with local ag co-ops like the J.R. Simplot Co. in Hershey.

Finding volunteer firefighters can also be difficult for rural fire departments that rely solely on volunteers. Full-time jobs can often interfere with a volunteer’s ability to help.

Nebraska Revised Statute 35-1403 states that an employer cannot take action against an employee responding to a fire as long as they notify their employer. Still, Lathrop said, that often stops people from volunteering in the first place.

Lathrop said other problems arise when people have to consider balancing time as a volunteer firefighter with work hours and family time.

In North Platte, Assistant Fire Chief Trent Kleinow also reported fewer volunteers signing up over time, but the department’s paid employees can offset demands. They train daily while volunteers train weekly.

North Platte has 39 professional EMT/firefighters and 20 volunteers, according to Kleinow.

Kleinow said they have more of an urban focus due to North Platte’s population size, but they still have to cover grass fires.

They keep a close relationship with local ag producers and co-ops, and that relationship has emerged ”organically over time,” he said.

Most of the time, Lathrop can repair something broken on one of the department’s six rigs. But for something like a recently repaired transmission on the 3,500-gallon capacity Heavy Expanded Mobile Tactical Truck, Lathrop needs to weigh his options.

Thankfully, he was able to get it fixed by ordering a transmission from the Nebraska Forest Service for $8,000.

The HEMTT (pronounced “hemit”) weighs 55,000 pounds fully loaded and can carry up to 2,500 gallons of water.

“With eight tires and as big and wide as they are, it doesn’t have any trouble going anywhere,” Lathrop said.

With the HEMTT, Lathrop said firefighters don’t have to rely on drop tanks to resupply water.

Lewis Seiber, fire equipment manager for the Nebraska Forest Service, said many fire departments partner with him to lease out fire equipment like Sutherland’s HEMTT.

Equipment like the HEMTT is offered through two federal programs: Federal Excess Personal Property and Fire Fighter Property.

These programs provide equipment owned but sitting unused by federal agencies. Federal agencies like the FBI, ATF, Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management lease equipment through FEPP. FFP specifically deals with the Department of Defense.

Seiber said the trucks, when loaned to fire departments, are converted by the local departments. They pay for shipping and their own modifications, but the state pays for everything else. He said most are modified to haul water.