Fire marshal highlights K‑9 accelerant work and urges fee review as fund balances decline

Byron Matthews, director of Fire Prevention & Electrical Safety, told the Joint Appropriations Committee that his Riverton training unit needs updated turnout gear, radios and nozzles, and that the agency submitted a $254,000 exception request that the executive branch largely did not recommend, instead recommending $14,000 for the agency’s accelerant-detection canine and related investigative costs.

Matthews described the K‑9 (Kyoto, spelled K‑Y‑O‑T‑O) as an ATF‑trained accelerant detector that has assisted in wildland and structure-fire investigations. He said Kyoto alerted multiple times during a six‑acre pasture investigation and that the dog assisted on a recent Green River fatality, providing timely investigative leads and laboratory-verified samples.

Lawmakers pressed the director on whether current fees (electrical plan review, licensing, inspection) cover program costs. Matthews said fees were long overdue for update; a change in fee-splitting two sessions ago moved the split to 95/5 in favor of the agency, which improved revenue retention but did not fully cover costs. Representative questions raised multi‑year projected declines in the agency fund balance and asked whether fee adjustments or other remedies are needed.

Senators also discussed building-code exemptions and alternative compliance to allow upper‑story occupancy in older downtown buildings and new rural manager quarters, and asked the director to prepare an actionable plan documenting successful local‑level pilots that could be replicated.

No appropriations were finalized at the hearing; committee members requested follow-up on fee schedules, fund projections and the agency’s plan to use training and destination funds more efficiently.