ST. PAUL – County of St. Paul council briefly discussed whether they should forgive a fire invoice sent to a County resident after they were involved in a vehicle incident in September 2022.
During the Aug. 8 regular County of St .Paul council meeting, Jason Storch, director of community services, presented information to council. He said the registered owner of a vehicle involved in a single vehicle rollover on a County road was invoiced in November 2022. The Elk Point Fire Department responded to the incident.
The original invoice totaled $2,600. It became $3,089.29 “with penalties,” according to the agenda.
County of St. Paul Sheila Kitz said the owner of the vehicle moved and so was not aware of the invoice right away.
The individual in question emailed the County stating that while they do not deny that there was an accident, they did not recall a fire truck coming to the scene. The individual’s partner also said they did not see a fire truck respond.
Storch said information from 911 dispatch indicates a fire struck was sent out but had only been at the site of the incident for five minutes, “obviously just long enough to collect information,” he said. He added at the time, there were also issues with the fire department’s radios leading to communication problems between the fire department and the 911 dispatch.
“There may have been some difficulties finding this location,” in addition to multiple calls, resulting in a “variety of factors” leading to some confusion, said Storch.
According to information from the agenda, two 911 service calls were made for the same incident, and incorrect directions were provided on one of the calls. Multiple units were dispatched, and they were out longer than necessary attempting to locate the incident.
The 911 dispatch report for the correct call then indicated the fire department was at the incident for five minutes, according to the agenda. Due to communication problems, the time that the two fire trucks left the fire hall and returned was around two hours.
Storch said a more accurate time spent on the call, based on the information from the 911 dispatch sheet, would be one hour from the time the fire department was dispatched to when they returned to the fire hall.
Reeve Glen Ockerman sought clarification, asking, “So, we didn’t really provide any service?”
“That would be correct, as from what I can gather, yes,” said Storch.
Without any further discussion, Coun. Maxine Fodness motioned to forgive the entire bill. The motion was unanimously passed by council.
