The campaign of the County Sheriff in Colorado’s El Paso County against the fire chief responsible for the initial attack of the devastating Black Forest Fire is having an effect. Sheriff Terry Maketa has been EXTREMELY critical of Bob Harvey, the Fire Chief responsible for the first two hours of the fire.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that state Senator Kent Lambert of Colorado Springs is drafting a bill that “would empower county authorities to take over command during an emergency without permission or a request from the local jurisdiction”. Sheriff Maketa has complained that Chief Harvey did not turn over the management of the fire to him early enough.

Several states, including Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, stipulate that on state and private land in unincorporated areas the County Sheriff is responsible for fires. Texas also has an archaic system, and puts a County Judge in charge of fires in some areas. These systems date back to a time when areas with sparse populations had very few government officials and little firefighting capacity of any kind. But the Sheriff was one of the first government positions filled. Now fire protection districts have sprung up in many areas that have firefighters and chief officers with far more knowledge, skills, training, and abilities related to fire suppression than the typical elected County Sheriff. Yet the laws are still on the books.

How about an alternative to Senator Lambert’s proposal. Make the local fire chief responsible for all law enforcement incidents. That would be just as logical as the current situation where the Sheriff is responsible for fires. (kidding, of course)

Thanks and a hat tip go out to Bean and Rick