Thermopolis firefighters get vehicle rejected by Hot Springs commissioners
BRODIE and SHARON FARQUHAR Star-Tribune correspondents | Posted: Thursday, June 22, 2006 12:00 am
THERMOPOLIS - Hot Springs County commissioners are sticking to their guns in calling for the return of a utility vehicle donated to the county's search and rescue unit by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., but that doesn't mean the vehicle is leaving the county.
Sheriff Lou Falgoust said Wednesday morning that the donated Polaris Ranger has been given instead to the Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department.
The 6-by-6 utility vehicle was sent to the Hot Springs County Sheriff's Department for use in search and rescue operations earlier this spring. The department was one of 20 emergency responder groups selected by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco out of 3,508 applicants. In the past four years, the country's major maker of chewing tobacco has donated 220 utility vehicles to firefighting, rescue, police, emergency medical service, and wildlife law enforcement organizations.
On June 6, the commissioners unanimously voted to request that the sheriff send the vehicle back to the company, after they listened to the concerns of local Tobacco Prevention Coalition members.
The commissioners on Tuesday got an earful from search and rescue team members, who were upset that they might lose a new, and valuable, piece of equipment.
"It is a gift," said team member Vince Kenel. "We should use it. People don't care who it came from."
But Commission Chairman Brad Basse said the source of the gift is important.
"Is there another way of getting a vehicle? Would it be a statement by us if we accepted it? It sends a mixed message for us to have programs that work against tobacco use (such as a program conducted by the sheriff's department), then use a donation which came from a tobacco company by the same department," Basse said. "This is in no way a reflection on the search and rescue group - only our concern about the acceptance of this donation from UST."
Basse admitted he's biased on the issue, as his wife is a dentist who deals with the damage caused by chew tobacco.
Becky Mortimore, the Hot Springs County Tobacco Prevention Coalition director, also said the source of the gift can't be ignored.
"We want you to stop and consider: Do you want the people of Hot Springs County to see this partnership with a tobacco company?" she said. "These companies are not allowed to advertise to kids, so this is just another way of making their product attractive to the community and to kids, by having their donation used by the search and rescue team. We are trying to see if there are other possible funds for the purchase of this kind of vehicle for (search and rescue). This is a health issue, not a rights issue."
Basse suggested that the county may be able to find another source of funding for a utility vehicle for search and rescue. That thought was confirmed by County Coroner Clark Mortimore, who said he has scars from surgery for lung cancer.
"UST is just getting around the new rules (about marketing to kids) with these kinds of donations," he said. "This is not a donation program - it's a tobacco program."
He said his office has a $9,139.72 grant available to purchase a similar vehicle for search and rescue and the coroner's office.
Commissioner John Lumley said he'd personally donate the first $100 "so we can get the equipment we need and not accept this tobacco donation."
Bud Ross, a member of the search and rescue team, complained that his group is underfunded.
"I'm up in arms about his. This is polarizing us one against the other," he said.
Basse countered that "we can have a win-win here and send a strong message to UST if we do not accept this donation."
Lumley said there would be no further action by the commissioners. "We will stand with what we voted last week," he said.
Interviewed Wednesday morning, Sheriff Falgoust said he visited with U.S. Smokeless Tobacco officials about returning the vehicle. The company staff asked if there was any other agency in the area that might be able to use the donated Polaris Ranger. Falgoust said he suggested the Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department, which is often involved in fighting wildfires around the county.
Department volunteers met Tuesday night and agreed to accept the Polaris utility vehicle.
Falgoust explained that he didn't want to defy the commissioners, in that the board sets his budget.
"My relationship with the county commissioners is important," the sheriff said.
"My emphasis on tobacco is to discourage teen use and enforce the law on underage purchases of tobacco products," he said. Falgoust said he didn't see the "mixed message" that concerned the commissioners. Instead, he focused on "the wonderful tool" that can now be used by the fire department.
Mark Collins, chief of the fire department, said he's waiting for all the paperwork to clear from U.S. Smokeless Tobacco before he gets too excited about the utility vehicle. Volunteers have speculated they could use the Polaris Ranger as a nifty wildland fire attack vehicle.
"I understand UST didn't want to take it back," Collins said. "We can find a use for it."
Mike Bazinet, a U.S. Smokeless Tobacco spokesman, said the company was pleased that an emergency first-responder agency in Hot Springs County would be able to use the utility vehicle. He said no other agency has ever rejected a Polaris Ranger donation before.
"This has been a non-controversial program," he said. "There are no strings attached and no connection to our product."
On the company's Web site, however, the application form for a Polaris Ranger states, "If awarded a utility vehicle, your organization will participate in a press release, presentation event with (company) representatives and appropriate officials, and other information activities that may include media interviews, video or still photography for use by newspaper, magazine, radio and television outlets."