Rep Rehberg(MT) Sues His Home Town During Election Year
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:41 am
BTW, about 1 out of 7 ballots cast in November will be from Billings.The city of Billings expects to contest a lawsuit that alleges that the Billings Fire Department breached a duty to protect the Rehberg Ranch Estates subdivision from a wildfire that scorched nearly 1,200 acres on July 4 in 2008.
“I think that the Fire Department did a good job of defending the property,” said Billings City Administrator Tina Volek.
The complaint was filed Friday by the law firm Edwards, Frickle & Culver on behalf of the subdivision, which is run by Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and his wife, Jan.
The complaint alleges that the Fire Department “carelessly abandoned the scene of a fire that it had not adequately suppressed during hot and windy conditions,” threatening homes and causing foreseeable damage to grazing land, fences, water pipes and other property.
The company is seeking money from the city to pay for damages that the wildfire caused to a large section of land slated for commercial and residential development.
Prior to the large Fourth of July blaze, lightning sparked a small fire near the subdivision on July 1, and another fire in the same area grew to about 10 acres on July 2.
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.”
After receiving a request from the plaintiffs, city officials declined last week to extend the statute of limitations beyond a two-year limit set for property damage cases, said City Attorney Brent Brooks.
The city’s insurance carrier, the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority, has been asked to provide defense counsel for the city.
Alan Hulse, chief executive officer of the risk-sharing pool for municipalities, said they are in the process of reviewing the city’s request for coverage and will likely reach a decision within a week.
Edwards said the ranch was forced to sue to preserve Montana's two-year statute of limitations for property damage.
“This was not Rehberg Ranch’s desired course of action, but the city’s actions left us no choice,” Edwards said. The ranch and Edwards “will continue to make every effort with the city to resolve the claim,” he said.
Edwards said the lawsuit “focuses on the administrative and management decisions and actions which led to the withdrawal of firefighters from an existing fire scene during high temperature and high wind conditions.”
The lawsuit “in no way undermines the excellent work of the first responders who so diligently worked to contain two earlier fires and subsequently contained and extinguished the re-ignited fire over the course of the next week,” Edwards said.
The lawsuit was pulled into the political arena shortly after it was filed. Rehberg is running for re-election, and his Democratic challenger, Dennis McDonald, jumped on the suit Tuesday morning as an attack on firefighters.
“Homes were saved, lives saved, and trees and grasslands were protected. These heroes deserve a huge ‘thank you,’ not a Rehberg lawsuit,” McDonald said in a press release.
“Rehberg’s lawsuit is reminiscent of Conrad Burns’ outbursts calling firefighters lazy and inferring they were incompetent. Burns later apologized. I call on Rehberg to dismiss this lawsuit and to apologize to our firefighters.”
In July 2006, then-Sen. Burns, R-Mont., approached some Virginia firefighters sitting in the Billings airport. He accused the members of the elite firefighting team of doing “a piss-poor job” and not doing “a God damned thing” while fighting a fire near Billings.
Rehberg’s camp shot back later Tuesday, with a press release from attorney Cliff Edwards and a statement from Rehberg.
“It’s unfortunate that some folks are mischaracterizing this situation for political gain,” Rehberg said. “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.”
Edwards, the attorney, said the lawsuit deals with the city’s actions during the fire and has nothing to do with politics.
“Contrary to the unfounded allegations circulating in the political spectrum, the claim focuses on the administrative and management decisions and actions which led to the withdrawal of firefighters from an existing fire scene during high temperature and high wind conditions,” Edwards said. “The claim in no way undermines the excellent work of the first responders who so diligently worked to contain two earlier fires and subsequently contained and extinguished the re-ignited fire over the course of the next week.”
At least one council member jumped into the fray as well.
“Sounds to me like another lawyer looking for a payday,” Councilman Rich McFadden e-mailed other council members on Saturday. “Maybe we need a rule to require Rehberg Ranch LLC to keep the brush cut down.”
