Rumor Control

Apparently the county health department contacted the BCFD Auxiliary about the pancake breakfast the other day. The rumor going around Saturday at the breakfast was that one of the bcXfd firefighters had called in  and complained. That was news to us. We learned tonight that the Bridger Canyon Fire District Safety Coalition sent one of their crack investigators down to the health department to see what they could learn. Here is the report they sent out earlier this evening:

The Facts Are:
 
  1. Food Safety Inspectors watch the news and read the newspapers everyday for announcements about public events where food is served.
  2. Organizations that will be serving food are required to obtain a Temporary Event Food Service permit. 
  3. The permits are free and the forms are available on-line.  They come with useful information on food handling.
  4. Last week, a Food Safety Inspector saw an announcement about the BC Pancake Breakfast.
  5. The Inspector searched their records to see if a permit had been obtained for this event. 
  6. Nobody had filed a permit for this year’s event so the Inspector called the contact on one of the previous year’s permits.
  7. The Inspector was not very concerned since the even has been going on for years and there has never been a problem in the past, so it was considered a low-risk event.

Thanks to the Safety Coalition for dispelling this unfounded rumor and hopefully the auxiliary will remember the permit the next time. It would put the fire department at risk of a lawsuit if they failed to get a permit and a food-born illness outbreak occurred among the attendees.