The next two posts will describe the mutual aid process and the role of box alarms. People are often amazed by the number of fire department apparatus that respond to their house in a short amount of time. We often hear “I just called 911 to report a burning smell in my house and the next thing I have a hundred fire trucks outside my house - wow.” The primary reason for this effective response is mutual aid based on box alarms. Box alarms are designed to give the responding officers the necessary resources based on the severity of the call. Time is ALWAYS of the essence when responding to a call and box alarms get the necessary resources rolling in a short amount of time.
Box alarms are geographic groupings which allow you to create a response based on the type of risks that are present and resources required to combat emergency situations.
Potential risks include:
Box alarms are geographic groupings which allow you to create a response based on the type of risks that are present and resources required to combat emergency situations.
Potential risks include:
• water supply issues e.g. hydrants/ponds; distance to water etc
• number of occupants e.g. schools, business, hospital vs. residents
• resources required e.g. water shuttles, ladder trucks etc.
• size of the structure e.g. business, school vs. a home
Once a department has created these specific boxes they are sent to the 911 dispatch center that then enter these locations and responding departments into their dispatching computer systems. Once a fire call comes in the necessary resources are dispatched based on the emergency that is reported.
The mindset of fire departments using box alarms is to be ready for all potential situations. Each time a reported structure fire is dispatched; all the volunteers in the Town of Clinton and our surrounding mutual aid departments jump in their cars and respond to their fire departments leaving their families and jobs. The mindset of modern firefighting is to get the resources rolling and cancel them if the situation is less severe than the initial 911 call. Our commitment is to keep our neighbors in our communities as safe as possible by dealing with emergencies in a proactive and professional manner. In the next post I’ll go over a couple of hypothetical examples to illustrate the power of box alarms in action.
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Once a department has created these specific boxes they are sent to the 911 dispatch center that then enter these locations and responding departments into their dispatching computer systems. Once a fire call comes in the necessary resources are dispatched based on the emergency that is reported.
The mindset of fire departments using box alarms is to be ready for all potential situations. Each time a reported structure fire is dispatched; all the volunteers in the Town of Clinton and our surrounding mutual aid departments jump in their cars and respond to their fire departments leaving their families and jobs. The mindset of modern firefighting is to get the resources rolling and cancel them if the situation is less severe than the initial 911 call. Our commitment is to keep our neighbors in our communities as safe as possible by dealing with emergencies in a proactive and professional manner. In the next post I’ll go over a couple of hypothetical examples to illustrate the power of box alarms in action.
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