Richter new chief at West End Volunteer Fire Dept.

The West End Volunteer Fire Department has a new chief in Mike Richter.

After many years of service, previous chief Dick Hughes recently resigned. He was thanked for his years of dedication to the fire department.

Richter stepped up when Hughes resigned and became the interim chief. Elections were held within the department a short time later and Richter was elected chief and Brian Malloy was elected assistant chief.

As the new chief, Richter has plans for the fire department to move forward. The first thing that took place under Richter's command was lowering of the ISO rating.

The rating went from a 9/10 to an 8B. Residents should check with their insurance agent to see if this will lower the fire insurance rating.

With the ISO rating has been lowered, this affects the fire insurance for all the home owners in the DeBorgia and Saltese area, according to Richter.

"If your house is within five miles of the DeBorgia or Saltese fire stations call your insurance agent and inform them of the new ISO rating of 8B to see if you qualify for a lower rate. The new ISO rating becomes effective July 1, 2021," Richter said.

One of the other major things that Richter is working hard to accomplish is training for the volunteers. He is working with Rick Paulson of the Montana State University Fire Training School.

His goal is to have all the West End volunteers certified as trained firefighters. Richter is also working with fire chief Jerry Dockter of the St. Regis Volunteer Fire Department to create a better working relationship.

The first mutual training between the two departments started with Rick Paulson bringing the burn trailer from MSU which is meant to simulate a burning house. The fire fighters learned the correct and safe way to fight a house fire.

The next training between the two departments will be on traffic flagging. Flagging training is a necessity for both departments, 90 percent of all calls are traffic related. The flagging training will be June 14 at the St. Regis fire department.

"The West End fire department is looking for new volunteers, if you are looking for excitement in your life and want to make some money in the process stop by and see if this is for you," Richter said.

Training is held Monday nights at the DeBorgia fire station.