Montague, Calif. — Members of the Montague City Council were clearly incensed at Thursday evening’s meeting, and Councilwoman Jayne Keller made no bones about how they all felt.
The anger was directed at Montague resident Marshall Super, who wrote a letter to the editor claiming he was not rescued by responders to a July 22, 2009 fire at his home on 16th Street.
Three of the firefighters, Montague Fire Dept. Capt. Erik Noon, MFD volunteer Wendy Lambert-Horn and CAL FIRE’s Rob Wettstein of Weed, won awards of valor at the March 6, 2010 Firefighters of the Year banquet in Yreka.
Super’s letter, published on page 1 of the March 17, 2010 edition of the Pioneer Press, was titled, “Was the award for rescuing a cat?” In it, Super claimed the facts as reported by the responders were not accurate.
Super’s letter was not submitted to the Daily News.
An editor’s note preceding Super’s words in the Pioneer Press read as follows:
“The Siskiyou Daily News reported the following (sic) ‘The resolution recounted a few facts from a July 22, 2009 structure fire in Montague. Noon, Horn-Lambert (sic) and Wettstein entered the 16th Street home not knowing if its occupant was still inside. The occupant was in a back room, where the firefighters pounded on the door until they woke him. They then pulled him and several animals from the burning structure.”
Super’s letter begins: “I was completely shocked by the awards article I recently saw in the Siskiyou Daily News involving myself. I can’t even begin to explain how upsetting this is, as it is in error.”
Super recounts his recollection of the incident, and ends the letter by stating, “Is the award for rescuing pets?”
Super also asked the Montague City Council to investigate the incident.
Keller, who told the Daily News after Thursday evening’s meeting that she had been “very angry” since the letter appeared in the Pioneer Press, read a letter of response to the council and to those in attendance. It reads:
“I am appalled that we, as a council, have been asked to investigate and subsequently defend our fire department from a member of the public that appears to be continuing an ongoing, relentless vendetta over an incident 2+ years old. These people did something heroic – wading through smoke and debris to check for signs of life in a house under siege. They found someone, woke him up, and aided him out and DID save several household pets and now you want to denigrate that heroism.
“Rarely does a firefighter get to REALLY get the satisfaction of a job well done and all of their training paying off. Every couple of months since my term as Fire Commissioner began, I have been called upon to deal with petty issues involving the fire department that in bygone eras were totally acceptable behaviors. In each and every case, I investigate and discuss the issues with the fire chief or assistant, even admonish him if necessary.
“On the other hand, this fire department is going strong, has a greater membership than ever before, better response times, state-of-the-art equipment and the knowledge to use it. For the first time in a very long time they have the respect of CAL FIRE so that CAL FIRE feels comfortable having our department to cover their stations during emergencies and enabling the department to earn monies to further upgrade themselves and their equipment.
“As all of you well know, this is a fully VOLUNTEER fire department. These people receive nothing monetarily for their devotion to duty and give of themselves, their time and, in many cases, money to do a job that only offers self-respect and self-esteem and now denigration. In spite of it all they enjoy doing a job well and having positive outcomes to their calls.
“It is long past time for these petty issues to stop and the fire department to be allowed to function, unfettered, as they have been these last two-and-a-half years – professionally, admirably.
“Jayne Keller
“Fire Commissioner
“City of Montague”
Super did not attend Thursday’s meeting, but several firefighters showed up to support the incident’s responders and the awards they received.
More coverage of the Montague City Council meeting will appear next week in the Daily News.
Source: By Mike Slizewski - Siskiyou Daily News article
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