AP Article from Sunday, March 09, 2008

Some cities in central Minnesota are struggling with the issue of how close their volunteer firefighters must live to the fire hall.

Cities are trying to strike a balance between requiring a reasonable response time for firefighters and trying to attract quality volunteers.

In Foley, two firefighters had to be terminated last month after they moved farther from the fire hall and outside the accepted 4-minute response time.

“We’re here and willing to do the job on a volunteer basis,” former Foley firefighter Scott Dingmann said. “And they throw us out.”

Every city determines a reasonable response time for its community based on factors such as whether firefighters also respond to medical calls, the number of stop lights and the size of the area the fire department serves.

State law doesn’t give much direction about how a response time should be determined, according to Jeannette Bach, research manager at the League of Minnesota Cities. She said time should be “reasonable” and cities have to determine what that is.

In Dingmann’s case, he and former firefighter Todd Swanson both bought land outside Foley’s required 4-minute response time zone.

Dingmann said he now lives about 5 minutes and 40 seconds from the fire hall. Swanson says his longest driving time to the hall is 4 minutes and 8 seconds.

The city had three people drive from each man’s home to the fire hall. For Swanson’s home, the city came up with an average 4 minutes and 44 seconds. It came up with an average of 5 minutes and 66 seconds from Dingmann’s home.

Both men asked the City Council to change the policy or make an exception so they could stay on the fire department.

Foley City Administrator Richard Zimmer said there is no place in the policy to make exceptions for some members.

“They both knew (the policy),” Zimmer said. “They chose to move.”

Some other cities in the area have made exceptions about how far firefighters can live.

Sartell made an exception for a firefighter who lived 9 minutes and 30 seconds from the fire hall, City Administrator Patti Gartland said. Sartell otherwise requires firefighters to live within 8 minutes, but Gartland said the city didn’t think the minute and a half made much difference.

The Cold Spring Fire Department sticks to its 2-mile response time requirement, Cold Spring Fire Chief Jim Maile said. A short response time is important in Cold Spring because firefighters also respond to medical calls, he said.

Maile also noted that a fire can double in size every minute.

“If we don’t get someone on scene right away, it’s fruitless,” he said.