Delta to end coverage of fire no man's land

Businesses along Nash Road currently not paying for fire protection will soon get a letter from the Delta Fire Protection District advising them that they need some.

They can either buy a contract from Cape Girardeau or Scott City, or petition to be annexed into the Delta Fire Protection District and pay through property taxes. Or, said Delta fire chief Alvin Frank, "They can do nothing and be certain to have no fire protection."

Frank said adjoining fire districts, including Cape Girardeau, support this. Scott County fire chief Jay Cassout said he will also send out a notice stating that Scott City will not respond to calls on Nash Road unless another fire department asks it to provide mutual aid.

"If they want fire protection, they're going to have to pay for it," Cassout said. "Everybody else does."

All the fire districts are within their legal rights to refuse to respond to a fire unless they are supported financially. Volunteer fire departments used to be supported through donations and fund raisers, said Cape Girardeau assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider. But equipment and protective gear is becoming more expensive, and community support is not as dependable as a tax. In addition, taxing bodies are eligible to apply for state and federal grant money.

About 30 businesses line Nash Road south of the Diversion Channel. The unprotected area is surrounded by the cities of Cape Girardeau and Scott City and the Gordonville and Delta fire districts. Most of the businesses there pay $1,000 a year for fire protection to Cape Girardeau. Scott City also offers contracts for businesses outside its city limits. Frank said that the Delta fire district does not offer contracts; the district is too small. Nearby Gordonville fire district also has refused to respond in that area except for mutual aid, he said.

Last week the Delta Fire Protection District Board decided that, for the present, it will cover the unprotected area until the businesses decide what they want to do. This situation is temporary, Frank said, but the board has not yet decided on a deadline. Frank said the board wants to give companies enough time to make their arrangements. Some, he said, have told him they thought they were protected but found out they are not.

"We don't want to let them hang out to dry," Frank said, "but we will not give them free service for a long period of time. It's not fair to the other taxpayers and other cities."

At some point, Delta will eventually refuse to respond unless it has legal jurisdiction. If no one will respond, then the burning property will simply burn.

"That's the bad part," Frank said. "Who's going to get the blame if nobody goes? You go into the fire service because you're interested in trying to help people."

Hasheider said Cape Girardeau notifies businesses in that area yearly that fire protection contracts are available. About half a dozen, he said, don't respond.

An employee who answered the phone at Timberline Forest Products said that company does not buy fire protection and has no plans to buy any. She said she didn't know why and that the manager who could answer that was not available.

Jim Kimmel, vice president and general manager of Forklifts of Cape Inc., said he finds it interesting that not everyone has been paying for fire protection. His company has a contract with Cape Girardeau.

"I assumed everybody else had to pay," he said. "It's money well-spent whether you like it or not."

Hasheider said that the businesses Cape Girardeau covers meet certain city code specifications although their compliance with those codes is voluntary. If the businesses were within the city limits, code compliance would be mandatory. The unprotected area is also out of the realm of the state fire marshal. Unless the businesses' insurance companies inspect for safety compliance, no one does, Frank said.

"I don't know how they would get insurance without a fire protection contract," said Stephen Powderly, co-owner of SE. Mo. Box Co. Powderly said his company, which makes cardboard boxes, has a contract with the city, and paid extra to have firefighters come out and teach their employees about fire safety.

In order to buy insurance, Powderly said, he had to send a copy of his contract to his insurance agent, Joe Stahly of W.E. Walker Insurance Co. Stahly said that most insurance companies send a risk controller to the property they're covering to check for fire protection and other safety issues, but some don't. So it's possible, he said, for a business to be in an unprotected area and the insurer not to realize it.

"An insurance company is only as good as its agent and risk control manager," Stahly said. "If someone gives the agent wrong information, it's misrepresentation and that could create a problem."

Hasheider said he doubts that anyone is misrepresenting information to their insurance company.

"Most companies are much smarter than that," he said.

Eventually the businesses will have to decide if they want to risk remaining unprotected. Frank, Delta's fire chief, said the district could send a bill after a fire. The going rate, he said, is $150 per hour per truck.

One solution is for the area would be to annex into Cape Girardeau, which already owns the water lines in that location. Powderly said he would be in favor of it, but Kimmel said he was doubtful. Much would depend, he said, on the amount of taxes he would have to pay.

Hasheider said Cape Girardeau's property tax rate is 31.35 cents per $100 assessed valuation, but that pays for all city services -- fire, police, street cleaning, parks and recreation, and other city amenities. He added that most of the city's income is from sales taxes.

Delta's tax rate is 29 cents per $100 assessed valuation, and that provides fire protection only. Frank said if businesses were to petition to be taken into Delta's district, eventually it would have to provide, equip and staff another fire station, which might mean higher taxes.

Even if all the businesses gain some kind of fire protection, there are still some roads and fields in that area that would remain unprotected.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160