Tag: Rehberg

The Fire Chief of the Billings Fire Department, Paul Dextras, has disputed some of the allegations that U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT) made in his lawsuit against the Billings Fire Department. Rehberg is asking for a cash payment from the city for damages done to his undeveloped Montana property during a 1,200-acre fire in 2008.

One of Rehberg’s allegations is that the fire department did not respond to requests for information and incident reports about the fire. However the Billings Gazette, after completing a one-page form and paying 25 cents per page, was able to get copies of them, including narratives, summaries of 911 calls and the names of firefighters and commanders on the scene.

Rehberg also claimed that the Billings city officials ignored a request to meet with them, but Chief Dextras said Wednesday that they met with the Rehbergs twice, and provided the Billings Gazette with incident reports about the meetings.

More information is at the Billings Gazette. HERE and HERE are letters to the editor at the newspaper about Rehberg’s suit. HERE is a video of a portion of Rehberg’s talk at the Montana State Fireman’s Association meeting on July 5.

Update July 21, 2010:

The Billings Gazette has copies of maps and fire reports:

• Map of July 4 fire
• Report from July 1 fire
• Report from July 2 fire
• Report from July 4 fire

Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT) made a hastily scheduled appearance at the Montana State Fireman’s Association annual convention in Billings, MT on Tuesday. In an attempt to make nice with firefighters, his remarks included a defense of the lawsuit he has filed against the Billings Fire Department over the strategy used on a wildfire in 2008 that burned some of his property. Rehberg is asking for cash from the city of Billings for the loss of vegetation on his property.

Here is an excerpt from the Billings Gazette about the event:

Rehberg asked to address the firefighters’ convention after the lawsuit took a political turn and Rehberg came under attack from his Democratic opponent, Dennis McDonald of Melville. Wearing a Melville Volunteer Fire Department cap, McDonald stood in the back of the room and smiled as Rehberg said the lawsuit had become politicized for McDonald’s gain.

“I apologize that this has become a political issue,” Rehberg said. “Welcome to my world, because everything I say, everything I do, every action that I take ends up being in a political scene when you’ve got a campaign and you’ve got candidates that are willing to say and do anything to win an election.”

Rehberg addressed the lawsuit for a few minutes and then switched to the state of the economy and his view of the difference between Republicans and Democrats. After he finished speaking, Rehberg met privately for 30 minutes with the leadership of Local 521, the union that represents Billings firefighters.

Neither Rehberg nor Local 521 leadership would comment about what was said in the closed-door meeting.

Rehberg’s appearance at the convention wasn’t planned well in advance, but he apparently met with some of the firefighters at a social event Monday night, and last week he asked convention organizers for the chance to speak. The press wasn’t notified in advance of the speech, and even some Rehberg staffers seemed caught off guard by his appearance at the convention.

Rehberg and the firefighters tried to downplay the political tension in the air, as McDonald was already slated to speak at 1 p.m. Some of the firefighters were trying to distance themselves from the politics surrounding the lawsuit.

On July 5 Wildfire Today told you about Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg’s lawsuit against the Billings Fire Department over the loss of trees and ground cover on his property during an 1,100-acre fire in 2008. On Tuesday Representative Rehberg issued a statement that sounds like he is trying to diffuse criticism over his decision to sue the city. He is up for re-election and may be getting nervous about how this may affect his chances in the November election.

Here is Rehberg’s statement, taken from his U. S. Government web site:

It’s unfortunate that some folks are mischaracterizing this situation for political gain. The appreciation I expressed to the front-line firefighters back in 2008 is the same appreciation I feel today. Jan and I have the deepest respect for firefighters and the dangerous work they do here in Billings. We continue to be very thankful for their bravery and skill.

It appears that Representative Rehberg “appreciates” and “respects” the firefighters so much that he has filed a lawsuit against the fire department, hoping to put some cash in his pocket.

The news release also has a statement from his attorney that said during the fire there was a “withdrawal of firefighters from an existing fire scene during high temperature and high wind conditions”, and firefighters “carelessly abandoned the scene of a fire that it had not adequately suppressed during hot and windy conditions”. They infer that this led to additional acres being burned on Rehberg’s property.

An article in the Billings Gazette said the City plans to contest the lawsuit, rather than pay Representative Rehberg a cash settlement. Here is an excerpt:

According to the complaint, the manager of Rehberg Ranch LLC was told by the Fire Department that firefighters would be present at the fire scene on July 4 to control any flare-ups brought on by the hot and dry weather conditions.

Instead, personnel left the scene before noon and the fire re-ignited, escalating to an “out-of-control blaze before the Billings Fire Department could return,” the complaint alleges.

The resulting wildfire was reported to the north of Rehberg Ranch and forced the evacuation of about 40 homes within a 1.5-mile radius of Night Hawk Road and Lone Eagle Drive, according to Gazette records.

Volek said Fire Department personnel were working overtime to deal with multiple fires in that area and elsewhere that were stoked by dangerous weather conditions.

“This was on July the Fourth in a very hot time,” Volek said. “The temperatures were around 100 that day and we also had other fires and fireworks going on at that time. The city was fully occupied.”

Rehberg’s opponent in the November election, Dennis McDonald, said in a press release:

Homes were saved, lives saved, and trees and grasslands were protected. These heroes deserve a huge ‘thank you,’ not a Rehberg lawsuit.

UPDATE @ 8:34 a.m. July 7

We searched the archives at the Billings Gazette found more information about the fire.

Continue reading

Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT) has filed a lawsuit against the City of Billings, Montana and the Billings Fire Department for the loss of trees and ground cover on property managed by his wife during an 1,100-acre fire near the Billings airport in July of 2008. Rehberg, who is the developer of record for the subdivision, claims the fire department “breached its duty” during the fire which burned some of the property they intended to develop.

In August of 2009 Rehberg was a passenger in a boat which crashed, injuring himself and two staffers, one of which was in a coma for a week. The driver of the boat, state Senator Greg Barkus, was charged with three felonies, criminal endangerment and two counts of negligent vehicular assault, for allegedly drinking while driving the vessel and crashing the boat at high speed onto a rocky embankment.

Two hours after the crash, which happened between 10 p.m. and midnight, Barkus had a blood-alcohol level of .16, twice the legal limit. Rehberg said that he was surprised to learn the results of Barkus’ blood alcohol test.

“He didn’t appear to be impaired to me when we got on the boat for the return trip,” he said in a statement.

This is not the first time a Montana politician has taken on firefighters. In 2006 Montana Senator Conrad Burns accosted the Augusta Hot Shots when they were waiting for a flight home in the Billings airport after working on the 92,000-acre Bundy Railroad fire, saying to them:

See that guy over there? He hasn’t done a God-damned thing. They sit around. I saw it up on the Wedge fire and in northwestern Montana some years ago. It’s wasteful. You probably paid that guy $10,000 to sit around. It’s gotta change.

Burns was up for re-election, running against Democrat Jon Tester. Soon, 1,000 “Wildland Firefighters for Tester” bumper stickers appeared. Tester won by about 2,000 votes, and the leading political columnist for the Lee Newspaper chain credited the “firefighter flap.”

Rehberg won his Republican primary last month and will face Democratic nominee Dennis McDonald in the November 2 election. It’s anybody’s guess if “Firefighters for McDonald” bumper stickers will soon start appearing on cars.