Welfare Firefighters Begging for Bail-out...

[JoseCuervo]

Didn't we have a few topics earlier in the year about Welfare Firefighters??? And I think one even quoted Joe King, the guy down below crying for a hand-out.

Slow fire year hurts contractors
Posted Sep 13, 2004 - 12:45 PM


Associated Press

MISSOULA — The relatively slow wildfire season this year put a big hole in the balance sheets of caterers and other vendors who stake their businesses on firefighting and support services.

‘‘After a year like this, you need good bankers,'' said Steve Nelson, co-owner of the Missoula area's Big Sky Mobile Catering, which has three portable kitchens equipped to feed crews at fire camps.

‘‘I'm not complaining — and this year is nothing like 1997 when we only took in $65,000 — but we need $1 million just to break even,'' Nelson said. ‘‘This year we only made about $600,000.''

The West had fires this summer, but nothing approaching the magnitude projected six months ago. Given the conflagrations in recent years, however, a number of businesses sprang up in anticipation of another big season.

‘‘No doubt, some companies will go out of business,'' said Bruce Suenram, president of Northern Rockies Wildfire Contractors Association and the owner of Fire Logistics in Belgrade.

In 1991, about 20 private fire engines vied for fire contracts in Montana, but now there are around 700, Suenram said. In addition there are water tankers, bulldozers and other equipment.

‘‘A lot of that equipment was bought on speculation,'' Suenram said. ‘‘The problem is that fire is cyclical. You can't plan on a lot of fire revenues.''

Former Forest Service fire boss Joe King plunged hundreds of thousands of dollars into expansion of Montana Wildfire in Bozeman.

‘‘I made a major mistake,'' King said. ‘‘I put all my eggs in one basket. It was a stupid thing to do.''

‘‘From my perspective, this summer has been a disaster. It's the worst year I've ever experienced.''

King said he has averaged 30 days of contract work per year, but received not even one call in 2004. The combination of the slow season, increased competition for business and the size of his investment has left him struggling to save Montana Wildfire, and his home.

‘‘The government bails out the airlines. It bails out farmers. Why can't it recognize what we bring to the economy and help us out a bit?'' he asked.

Suenram said the contractors' association has no plans to lobby for government help.

Indian tribes also have been hit hard by the slow fire season.

Unemployment on Montana Indian reservations hovers around 70 percent and in that environment, many people lean heavily on firefighting for money, said Gordon Belcourt, director of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council in Billings.

‘‘I wish there were other opportunities, but there are only a certain amount of jobs available,'' Belcourt said. ‘‘You don't want to see the forests burning, but it generates a lot of work for our young people.''

In years past, a slow fire season might have hurt volunteer fire departments that expected the work and money, but some have moved away from that reliance, said Jim Knapp, chief of the Corvallis Volunteer Fire Department.

‘‘A lot of private contractors have surfaced,'' Knapp said. ‘‘It's starting to get so that so many people are trying to do it that you can't count on it.''

Last year Corvallis approved a tax levy that increases funding for the fire department, and decreases its reliance on wildfire contracts.

 

[Delw]

Elk gunner I agree with ya on this subject, but dont get all mushy on me


Delw

 

[Ithaca 37]

Betting on disasters is a tough way to make a living!