Fire 12 hopes for insurance

Fire District 12 commissioners held a regular meeting June 5 in the Matlock Grange, discussing steps they are taking to reinstate insurance coverage and other district business.

“There’s a lot to do,” District 12 Acting Chief Mike Brown said.

Brown was appointed acting chief by Commissioners Trina Young and Dave Persell following their suspension of Bryan Walsworth.

Brown said he and Young are working to get insurance back for the district.

In May, it lost insurance coverage due to years of mismanagement, was declared a disaster area by the county and all three of its commissioners resigned.

Brown said he is working on getting the district’s affairs in order so insurance can be reinstated.

“There’s such a huge list,” he told meeting attendees.

He recently had keys made for the district’s command vehicle and two ambulances and reported the missing keys to law enforcement, he said.

“We have no phones left in the station, no radios, no flashlights, no computers … everything’s gone,” Brown said.

Once Station 1 is in working order, he will begin assessing Station 4, he said.

All the equipment must be cleaned and inspected, according to Brown.

Brown commended Mason County Auditor Steve Duenkel, who was in attendance, for volunteering for CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training.

“He’s been with us from the beginning,” Brown said about Duenkel.

In other business, Young and Persell voted to require two commissioners, the administrator and fire chief to all sign any voucher requests sent to the county.

Young said requiring four signatures will provide accountability.

Young and Persell also agreed to receive only one meeting stipend a month and waive all other meeting stipends.

“I’m not doing this for recognition, glory or title … It was the right thing to do for our community,” Persell said.

Commissioners said they are working on getting a website and email. The former website and email accounts were taken down by the former district administration.

“We have no control over it,” Young said.

For now, official notices about Fire 12 can be found on Masonwebtv.com, Matlockcommunity.com and Matlock Uncensored and Schafer Park Community Facebook pages, Young said.

“Any official notice we put out will have our letterhead on it,” she said.

Commissioners took applications for the vacant position 2 seat until June 7 and have not made an appointment as of the Journal’s press time.