City of Cheney accepts Air Force agreement

CHENEY — The council voted unanimously to accept resolution F-139, mutual aid agreement with Fairchild Air Force Base and Fire Department for emergency response, at their regular meeting on March 28.

The agreement is between Cheney fire department and the Air Force, acting through the commander of Fairchild Air Force Base, for securing mutual aid in fire protection services, and contains language that has been updated from the original agreement.

“Our original agreement with Fairchild has been in place since 1994, and was revised and updated in 1999.” Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said.

Since that time, it was determined that certain chemicals, including per-and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) were present in many fire suppressant, including aircraft-deployed foams primarily used for petroleum fires.

“This was a large part of why the agreement needed to be updated. Fairchild stipulated that if the city desired to continue receiving fire and emergency services from the base, we needed to enter into this updated agreement.” Jenkins said.

The agreement reads that Cheney Fire Department agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the United States from any liability that may arise from the use of firefighting foams, chemicals, or other materials by the Air Force.

“The Department of Defense and the Department of the Air Force basically want us, the city, to hold the United States blameless, in a sense.”

Jenkins said that both our city’s attorney and attorney Brian Snure, who is a statewide fire district representative, identified that the federal code, which supersedes the verbiage of the agreement, does enable the city to seek restitution for damages caused by the United States government in the process of providing emergency services.

“This new agreement template includes a clause which requires that the agreement remain in effect for 5 years, at which point it has to be revised.” Jenkins said.

Author Bio

Lucas Walsh, Former managing editor

Lucas is a former Cheney Free Press managing editor. He is a nationally published author who contributes regularly to several publications across the country.