MOUND CITY – Linn County Fire Chief Randy Hegwald met with the Linn County Commissioners on Monday, Feb. 13 to update them on activities at the fires department and to report last week’s incidents.
Hegwald reported that there had been seven incidents the past week bringing the yearly total up to 41. The incidents were two medical assists, one motor vehicle accident with no injuries, one gas leak (natural gas or LPG), one special type of incident, one brush or brush-and-grass fire mixture and one grass fire.
Hegwald explained that the special incident involved interviewing a neighbor about a previous fire.
Hegwald told the commissioners that the noxious weed department had transferred a tank and a skid unit for a pickup at the Pleasanton fire department so that it could be a back-up or secondary brush truck.
Commission Chair Danny McCullough asked if the fire department had contracts with the cities.
Hegwald said the county had automatic aid agreements, but they all expired in 2018. Hegwald said that he and the fire board had discussed about redoing those agreements. The agreements are with city fire departments in La Cygne, Pleasanton, and Linn Valley. He said the county’s rural fire department covers the rest of the county.
The process for renewing these agreements is having the fire board look at the agreements and then bringing them to the commissioners for approval.
Hegwald said the next fire board meeting is the third week of the month so the contracts would not be approved until then or later. He said he would bring the expired ones in next week so that the commission could look them over.
Hegwald explained that the agreements covered that when the city fire department was called the county also was called and came as backup.