MILES CITY — Miles City's mayor is considering defunding the city's fire department and transferring the service to Custer County as the city grapples with an ongoing budget problem.
Mayor Butch Grenz floated the controversial idea at a recent city council meeting, citing the department's $1.2 million to $1.3 million annual budget as unsustainable for the financially struggling city.
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"I can't see the reason why we should have two fire departments a block away from each other," Grenz said Tuesday.
The mayor's plan would shift city fire services to county fire services, which operate with volunteers. He believes the county could provide the same services for approximately $600,000.
"We can farm out the fire suppression to the county. And, you know, hopefully, either the city workers want to take that on themselves or if they don't, then if we find somebody else, they'll all be gone," Grenz said.
Miles City Interim Fire Chief Eddy Kanduch argues the department provides essential services that extend far beyond firefighting. The department, which is staffed 24 hours a day by full-time firefighters, responds to approximately four to five calls daily, totaling about 1,640 calls last year.
"We do the ambulance. We're the fire department. We also do the transporting ambulance service for the whole county. So we respond to the whole Custer County," Kanduch said.
The department has received multiple recognitions for its service quality, according to Kanduch.
The community has shown strong support for maintaining local fire services. In 2023, voters approved a $3.9 million bond to build a new fire station in Miles City.
"We've had a lot of positive feedback wanting to keep the fire department, keep the ambulance service, and continue forward," Kanduch said.
The fire chief emphasized the potential consequences of delayed emergency response times.
"What's a life worth? If there's going to be a delay in response, then what do we need to do to figure that out?" Kanduch said.
