Destroyed House Stokes Firefighting Feud In Sandpoint Blaze At Singer’S Home Is First Since Volunteers Walked Out

The heat under the City Council increased Thursday when the home of popular singer-songwriter Beth Pederson was destroyed by fire.

It was the first blaze since the city’s volunteer fire force quit in protest last week, and some say the firefighters’ absence contributed to the loss of the home.

The 10 volunteers quit out of frustration with the management of the Fire Department after the city replaced the fire chief with a public safety director. After the walkout, city officials assured citizens that the loss of volunteers did not signal a safety problem.

“There’s a lot of antagonism toward the City Council,” said Laima Lucht, a friend of Pederson’s who helped retrieve belongings from the house Thursday morning.

“All of the sudden this happens to show us we don’t have sufficient crew to help save a house,” Lucht said. “I don’t know why those volunteers quit. … All those issues came to a head today.”

Nancy Singleton was house-sitting the home when the crash of an exploding porch window woke her. She called 911 at 5:26 a.m., and the only two paid firefighters on duty responded from the city’s fire station.

As they turned the corner onto Ruth Avenue, the firefighters saw smoke and flames on the back porch, said fire Capt. Robert Tyler.

Following a policy instituted last year by the City Council, Tyler waited until he saw the fire before calling for backup and aid from other agencies. He made that call at 5:34 a.m.

Within three minutes, another paid firefighter arrived, and at 5:42 a.m., two more arrived. Later, firefighters from Sagle, North Side and West Side fire districts arrived to help, 12 in all.

But by then, Singleton said, it was too late.

“I know the firemen who responded did everything they could,” she said. “It’s something that should have been put out in 10 or 15 minutes. They came pretty fast, but they didn’t have the equipment or the manpower. I was standing and watching it burn.”

As firefighters doused the runaway blaze in the attic with water and foam, friends and neighbors gathering at the scene grew angry. A telephone tree brought at least 25 people to the house, Lucht said.

The friends formed a line and carried away Pederson’s belongings, as firefighters handed them out of the house. From there, the belongings were stashed in a number of neighbors’ houses.

Later, someone arranged for a storage unit to be delivered to the Pederson’s lot, where Pederson’s possessions were stored. She was expected to return later in the day from a trip to San Francisco.

It’s the second major loss in five months for Pederson, whose partner in the musical Wild Roses duo, Cinde Borup, died in August. A musical tribute to Borup played to a soldout crowd at the Panida Theater in November.

Witnessing the growing anger of the crowd, Lucht decided it was something the mayor should see and called him. Mayor David Sawyer, also a friend of Pederson’s, spoke with several people, including the firefighters.

“Having volunteers that respond obviously allows us, because some are Sandpoint citizens, a quicker response time. There’s no question,” Sawyer said later. “I’m not saying that the presence or lack of volunteers changed the outcome of the fire.”

But it did help “open the dialogue” between city officials and the fire department, he said.

“Certainly, we need to work on getting our volunteers back,” he said.

Today, Sawyer has a meeting with the volunteers who dramatically quit last week by turning in their gear at the City Council meeting and demanding the return of a fire chief.

Since Chief Don Keck retired in October 1996, the city has turned those duties over to Bill Kice, the police chief. Kice now oversees both departments.

Volunteers and paid firefighters have complained that Kice lacks the background to give the fire department the guidance and day-to-day oversight it needs.

The loss of the fire chief also meant one less firefighter at many fires, because one person has to act as the incident commander.

The volunteers cite safety issues because of their dwindling numbers, new policies and a recent cancellation of training.

At least one council member is calling for the hiring of a fire chief. Susan Hayes voted for the appointment of Kice as public safety director, but she now says that the needs of the fire department justify a separate position.

The council is scheduled to discuss the problems during an closed door meeting scheduled for Monday evening.