Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Several agency representatives gathered on Thursday, May 13, at Ostby Hall to review and discuss the events of March 14, when an early Sunday blaze destroyed the Sheyenne home of Ryan and Kristie Genre.
Rob Johnson and Starr Klemetsrud of Lake Region Law Enforcement Center (LRLEC) led the conversation, which was moderated by Eddy County Emergency Manager Lisa Thompson. When everyone left, new procedures were in place to help improve emergency response time in the future.
Johnson reiterated his past comments that errors had been made at the 911 dispatch center the morning of March 14. The city’s outdoor siren was first activated at 5:08 a.m., and even though no firefighters responded, the dispatcher did not sound the siren a second time until 5:19 a.m. “Eleven minutes between sirens is too long,” Johnson said. As a result of this incident and the pursuant discussion, the LRLEC has implemented a new policy.
Moving forward, the dispatcher is directed to sound the siren or page firefighters a second time once three minutes have passed without a return page from the local agency responding. If there is no response to the second page or siren, the dispatcher will page a third time, and then page another department for backup three minutes after the second page to the initial agency.
“Three minutes to the person that made the call is a lifetime,” Kristie Genre said.
Sheyenne Fire Chief Elvis Thumb, the first firefighter to respond to the Genre fire, said he woke up to what he thought were gunshots. As he went down the stairs of his house, he recalled hearing the fire siren go off.
Mayor Bob Hanson, also a volunteer firefighter, said he looked out a window of his home when the first audio page came at 5:23 a.m., and he said he could see that the Genres’ garage was already fully engulfed. He is a neighbor to the Genres.
Johnson noted that the procedures they follow at LRLEC vary widely, driven by the local agencies. Each department sets their own protocols based on the technology available to them.
For example, in Sheyenne, dispatchers first activate the sirens in the event of a fire. In New Rockford, the firefighters are paged first, and the siren is typically only activated in the event of an issue with the pagers.
Recruitment is also an issue, especially with small, rural departments like Sheyenne. Thumb stressed that more volunteers are needed to improve their response time. “We need four people, fully dressed and ready to go, before we leave with that big pumper truck,” he noted. He outlined the tasks involved in mobilizing the vehicle. In addition to the operation of the truck, it takes manpower to drag hoses, connect them to the hydrant, turn on the hydrant and position the hoses on the fire. If rescue efforts are required for people and pets stuck inside, even more volunteers are needed to be fully effective.
“This is the time to evaluate procedures and identify issues. If there’s something you want done differently, let’s do it now,” Commissioner Dave Gehrtz told the responders in attendance. Gehrtz represents the county on the LRLEC board of directors.
After discussion about the effectiveness of sirens for alerting responders, Thumb acknowledged that it made more sense to have the Sheyenne Fire Department follow the same procedure as New Rockford. The sirens are designed to warn anyone who may be outside, but during night hours, responders may not hear the siren if they are sleeping. New Rockford firefighters use a system called eDispatch to receive alerts on their cell phones in the event of an emergency, so the faster that page comes in, the sooner they can respond. Therefore, the 911 dispatcher will now be directed to page the Sheyenne firefighters directly in the event of a fire, using eDispatch as well.
Eddy County has contracted with LRLEC for emergency dispatch services since the 911 system was first brought online in 1997. Prior to that, agencies were paged to emergencies by the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd. According to minutes from the Community Ambulance Service of New Rockford (CASNR) meetings during that time, there was discussion about installing two 911 towers, one on the water tower and another along Hwy. 281 north of New Rockford on the Continental Divide. LRLEC instructed first responders not to call from home when receiving a page. Rather, volunteers were asked to respond once they arrived at the fire hall.
LRLEC started paging out emergency service personnel on August 19, 1997, according to CASNR records. Effective December 1, 1997, callers to the local ambulance and fire departments heard a recorded message asking them to dial 911. At that time, pager checks were still being done by the Lutheran Home.
Eddy County has been consistently served by LRLEC for the past 24 years. In that time, the 911 dispatch center has evolved significantly, Johnson indicated. He invited emergency personnel to take a seat alongside the dispatchers and see firsthand how they operate. “We can show you before and after pictures. You’ll see some vast improvements in what we have done,” Johnson said. “You’re more than welcome to experience what we do.”
There’s still more work to do, however, with LRLEC coming online with the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network and installing new consoles later this year. There ‘s also a push to install a computer aided dispatch (CAD) system to help automate the dispatcher’s work. These upgrades are paid for by tax dollars, through a cost sharing agreement with the counties and cities served by LRLEC, as we’ve reported before.
At its core, 911 is for the public benefit. “We are a community service entity, and we take that very seriously,” Johnson concluded.
