Lawmakers back plan to restore forestry firefighters
By
Feb 2, 2012, 10:46
State lawmakers and forestry commission officials say they are getting closer to restoring the 20 commission firefighting positions eliminated last November, including one of just two such positions in Sevier County.
Sevier and Howard County state representative Nate Steel said on Jan. 31 that the Joint Budget Committee voted to include a proposal to restore the positions in the forestry commission's proposed 2013 budget.
"This is a solid first step in getting Sevier County another forestry ranger," he said.
The Arkansas Forestry Commission - which heads forest fire suppression efforts in the state - announced in November that it would have to layoff 36 employees by Jan. 13, 2012, including David Krantz - one of only two forestry commission employees in Sevier County.
Although the layoffs will affect the fire suppression efforts of numerous counties, local officials fear Sevier County will suffer the hardest with only one ranger in the county. Indeed, two weeks ago De Queen firefighters had to wait over an hour for a forestry commission crew to respond with a dozer to a fire near Bellah Mine Road.
The sole remaining Sevier County forestry ranger was on vacation at the time, and De Queen firefighters had to contact a commission crew from Little River for assistance in battling the forest fire. It took the crew an hour and a half to respond to the fire.
"It's not even fire season yet, so just imagine how long we'll have to wait when Little River County's got their own fires to fight," said Sevier County Judge Greg Ray.
Hopefully local firefighters won't have to wait long, said Steel, if the commission and lawmakers find additional revenue to restore the laid-off firefighters.
"Sevier County's been placed on the top of the list as far as restoring these positions," Steel said. "If any of these positions are restored, I'm confident Sevier County will be the first as it has been deemed most in-need for an additional forestry ranger."
To read the complete article, please see the Feb. 2 edition of The De Queen Bee.
