The right approach

We urge all owners of cabins that would be included in a proposal to expand a taxing district for fire protection to weigh in on the plan. And, the RFPA Board is making it easy for property owners who would be impacted to comment on the proposal: they may respond directly to the RFPA after receiving a soon-to-be sent letter, or show up at the July 10 public hearing scheduled by the county board.

Clearly, more is better when it comes to emergency assistance on the inhabited parts of Rainy Lake.

And the RFPA Board’s proposal to purchase a boat that has more than just firefighting capabilities makes sense.

Those potential uses were outlined Tuesday for the county board and include transporting injured people from the water or islands to mainland. This provides assistance to the International Falls Ambulance Service in getting people to medical facilities as quickly and safely as possible.

In addition, the board’s extraordinary electronic features could assist in locating drowning victims in the lake. While we all hope that assistance is never needed, living and recreating as residents and visitors do on the area’s waters makes that a possibility.

But first and foremost, the boat would be used to fight fires at the 200 cabins on islands within the proposed district expansion.

For years, cabin owners have assisted one another when fires occur. And Camp Kooch-i-ching has often played a valuable role with its boat.

But a boat dedicated solely to fighting fires at island cabins is needed. And, it’s been noted, that this boat has the potential to assist the International Falls Fire Department on shoreland fires on mainland, as well as within Voyageurs National Park and nearby Ontario.

Kudos to RFPA for hearing about a need for fire protection and finding the best, most cost-effective way to offer it.