Upset over the fire department of Idyllwild

The previous installment of Out There was written from the mountain community of Idyllwild. The town’s fate is tied closely to the integrity of its fire protection -- and the Idyllwild Fire Protection District has been accused of intimidating critics and violating open-government standards, among other things. The department says it is the target of a small group of disgruntled residents, but this summer a grand jury went so far as to recommend that the department be absorbed into the network of county, state and federal stations that protects the rest of the area. Among readers’ responses:

“The Idyllwild firefighters lack training and pride and spend more time talking about each other and the community members. . . . That beautiful community deserves better medical and fire response.” -- Dug

“I live in Idyllwild, I abate my property and I am a wildland firefighter. It is not a small percentage of us that are outraged. . . . There are many committed firefighters within IFPD that deserve better leadership!” -- firefighter

“Please get these dangerous people out of any position of power before it is too late and Idyllwild goes up in smoke.” -- Denise

“The buzz up here is getting hostile, and it is not being helped by the IFPD’s reaction. . . . IFPD is a fine organization that seems to have wandered off track. I encourage the entire community to pull together and solve this.” -- ken6000