HUMBOLDT — Humboldt City Council’s Safety Committee had given their report. Council member Paul Cloutier had read aloud the committee’s recommendation: The council take no further action and keep Humboldt’s fire whistle turned off.
In June, the Humboldt council voted unanimously to deactivate the fire siren and all-clear siren. Recent complaints about the decision led Mayor Nobby Davis to ask the Safety Committee in August to investigate and report back. But at Monday’s council meeting, the committee’s report went over like a lead balloon.
“The committee has heard detailed evidence that shows no diminishment of Humboldt Volunteer Fire Department’s ability to respond to calls, or response times, or the number of firefighters responding to calls,” read Cloutier. “We believe the evidence supports that Humboldt Volunteer Fire Department has the tools they need to respond safely and rapidly to emergencies, without the fire whistle.”
As soon as he finished, the tension in the room was palpable. Council members and around a dozen members of the public exhaled, looked around — and set to doing just the opposite of the Safety Committee’s recommendation.
“Why do we have to keep it off? I have had so many people talk to me about this. I’m tired of it, and I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal,” said council member Sunny Shreeve. “Is that my answer?” asked Shreeve, as she looked around the room, clearly frustrated. “Shrugs? I don’t know?”
City administrator Cole Herder provided context. It was he who had brought the issue to the council’s attention, as the four car batteries that power the whistle can’t operate over long periods of time.
There’s no back-up system, explained Herder, and during past storms the whistle has ceased to operate. “And if that happens during a storm, and then there’s a subsequent tornado,” said Herder, “the siren wouldn’t work.”
Cloutier noted Humboldt Fire Chief Sean McReynolds was for discontinuing the whistle. “The evidence we heard from the fire chief corroborated what the fire chief supported in the first place,” said Cloutier, “Which was that the siren was not really necessary anymore. That’s really where this started — the belief that the tools were already in place to solve this problem.”
And when Davis mentioned several incidents of late where apparent issues may have come up, Cloutier noted potential solutions likely depend on improved fire department policies and communications, and wasn’t something the council could, or should, solve.
Shreeve disagreed. “Why isn’t it our place to make a decision about something that affects our city and our constituents?” she asked.
Council member Kent Goodner concurred. “The thing is, you took it away,” he said.
To which Shreeve added, “So why can’t we take it back?”
Council member Otis Crawford offered a moment of lucidity, noting that the Safety Committee’s recommendation was just that — a recommendation, not a vote.
Point taken. “I want to make a motion we reinstate the fire whistle effective today or tomorrow,” said Goodner. Shreeve quickly offered a second.
Herder warned of moving too fast, and of the dangers in not providing Humboldt residents notice before reversing a decision. “We have one side well represented here this evening. But I’ve had numerous calls and emails with people saying they’re satisfied. If they knew this was getting voted on tonight, they’d be just as upset as the group sitting here this evening. And this will go on month after month after month,” said Herder. “If you’re going to have a motion, I believe it should be well publicized so that both sides of the community can be represented.”
