MELFORT — The Melfort and District Fire Department will no longer be responding to fire alarm systems out in the RM of Melfort without the go-ahead of an individual.
“We’ve been hearing complaints from people we respond to that they don’t want us there because of the bills,” said Jason Everitt, the fire chief.
This will affect the RMs of Star City, Flett’s Springs, Willow Creek and Pleasantdale. It will also affect Weldon and Beatty.
“It’s been not only my experience, but the experience of departments across the board that as fire alarm systems become more popular in houses and businesses, they are a great addition, no doubt, but... the vast majority times those alarm systems are activated, they’re activated for non-fire reasons,” Everitt said.
This resulted in fire departments being dispatched to more false alarms.
“There’s a cost to that, and the cost when we go outside the City of Melfort that cost is put back onto the person who either owns the business or residence,” Everitt said. “That’s hundreds of dollars and each time that we are toned out or dispatched to a fire alarm’s ringing call, our members respond to the fire hall.
“Most times we try to get information from dispatch what’s happening, and it’s incumbent upon the alarm companies, the monitoring service, to try to connect someone at the site, to verify that there is something going on but our members have already responded to the hall and there is a cost to that.”
If no confirmation was received, the department would go to the site whether there was an emergency or not.
“The costs climb quite considerably once that happens,” he added, adding homeowners are quite surprised when the fire department shows up and they get stuck with a hefty bill.
With the current change, the Melfort and District Fire Department will be waiting for the fire alarm monitoring company to verify there is an actual emergency before the department responds. This is done through the monitoring company’s contact list. Everitt said there’s usually somebody near the scene that can be contacted.
“Whether it’s a neighbor, whether it’s friends, someone in the area that can be responsible right now to make that decision. Most times we found when there is an actual event happening there are usually several calls coming in saying, ‘there’s a fire in this house, we can see it’.”
They will also respond if they have consent of the contact person, even if they were not in the area. For example, if a resident was on vacation and got notified by the alarm monitoring company, despite not knowing if there is an emergency, the department will still respond if the person gives the department consent to.
“If someone says, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but yes’, then we go,” Everitt said. “But what that’s done is that put the responsibility back onto somebody that is responsible for that property saying, ‘yes, we want somebody there.”
This change will not affect false alarms within the City of Melfort, as those services are covered by taxation. In rural areas, the fire department charges the Melfort Rural District Firefighting Society, which in turn charges property owners.
