By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Phone calls poured in to Barton County Commissioners after the announcement for Thursday's special meeting regarding extra days for fireworks discharge in unincorporated portions of the county. But cool heads prevailed at the actual meeting.
Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir expressed his concerns over the current resolution stating fireworks may be discharged only on July 4. Area fire chiefs countered that extending that period from June 27 to July 4 would stretch their departments thin. The commission compromised, adding only one extra day to discharge fireworks for the 2022 holiday.
"You've got me in an impossible situation," Bellendir told commissioners. "Under your current resolution, it is unlawful to discharge fireworks other than on July 4th. I know of two unincorporated towns who are advertising fireworks displays on Sunday, the third.
"The other issue we run into is, you start selling fireworks on (June 27), and people are going to shoot them and we get complaints. In the history of the sheriff's office, I don't know that we've ever written a summons for unlawful discharge. The people are going to discharge them no matter what."
The commission heard from Fire Chiefs Luke McCormick of Great Bend, Spencer Proffitt of Ellinwood, Charles Keller of Albert, and Doug Hubbard of Claflin. All agreed extending the period to legally discharge fireworks would tax their departments, especially on such short notice.
"I think this whole topic is probably really due for a good work study," McCormick said, "not to have a special meeting two days before this comes in with no advanced notice - to really prepare so we've got good facts and good stats of the impacts it has on the fire department, the impacts it has on the sheriff's department, and the impact it has on the public."
With this year's July 4 holiday falling on a Monday, Bellendir also expressed concern about rural families that have requested permission to shoot fireworks as early as Saturday when family will be in town. Firefighters countered that more days will mean spreading out staff for an extended period of time.
"I understand when it's butted up to a weekend like this, I understand it would help to have that stretched out a day or two," said Proffitt. "I understand that. Getting it stretched out too far starts to back us up into a lot of wheat harvest stuff and it is a staffing issue. We get real thin."
"Staffing-wise, seven days does create an issue," McCormick said. "You're going to extend those calls that we normally have isolated to the Fourth, you'll spread those out throughout that whole period. The seven or eight days you have up there, that to me is way too long."
Keller said wheat fields are going to be an issue regardless of their harvest status, and he fears reckless discharge of fireworks will lead to other issues in rural areas.
"Whether it's wheat that's uncut or cut stubble, it's an issue," he said. "I'm also concerned about passing this, you're going to have more people from the city going out to the rural because they know it's legal, pull into just some drive, and start shooting fireworks. Leaving their trash, so you have a trash issue for either the farmer, the township, or the county. I understand the sheriff's point. But I think maybe you're shifting call volumes from the sheriff's office to the fire departments."
Many of the fire departments around Barton County are volunteer only. Hubbard expressed concerns about adding to those roles.
"For the ones who are volunteers, it's hard to ask somebody to stay home on their weekend or vacation day just to cover fire calls that may or may not happen," he said.
The commission voted 4-0 on a compromise that will add just one additional day to discharge fireworks on July 3. With the matter resolved for the 2022 holiday, the body agreed to take up the matter at a future date to address some of the other concerns.