[The following Letter to the Editor is as it appeared in the January 31, 2024 edition of the Gazette-Record]
In the lengthening line of government officials who want to be our dictators such as what we endured from the czars of the pandemic, now add to the list the State Fire Marshal who, in the latest House Bill No. 389, wants to “declare an emergency” and impose the 2020 revision of the International Fire Code and any revisions he feels are necessary at any time to unilaterally impose without review. He’s worried about “combustibles” and other unnamed fire hazards.
Of course, not saying what this code requires specifically (except for the plea to be “reasonable”) – you know, the old yarn that “ignorance of the law is no excuse” – it nevertheless can get you thrown in jail.
It may not yet ban the gas can in your tool shed where you keep the lawnmower, but if California is any guide, this is where government tyranny starts.
I would like to know where Idaho gets these people? And where are our legislators – our esteemed guardians of freedom? “Hello, Earth to Hawkins . . . Earth to Heather!!!”
James Stivers
Desmet, Idaho
Update 3/9/24: Follow link to discussion of the Fire Marshal’s motivations