1.12.19 – CTV News –
The Melfort Fire Department is warning it will only respond to a fire alarm in a rural area if an emergency is confirmed by a witness or owner of the building.
Fire Chief Jason Everitt says the decision will save the fire department resources and the homeowners money. Rural Melfort home and business owners are the ones responsible for the bill when fire crews attend to a false alarm.
Although it’s a change for the Melfort area, it’s not a new tactic in the province. Prince Albert Fire Department has implemented the rule for years.
“It has pretty much completely eliminated (attending to false alarms) for our rural responses,” Prince Albert Deputy Fire Chief Alex Paul told CTV News.
Both Paul and Everitt say almost all alarms they see are false alarms and it’s a waste of resources to respond to every one.
The two also agree that during an actual emergency the fire department will receive multiple calls on top of an alarm.
Everitt is encouraging people in the rural Melfort area to update their contact lists with the alarm companies so the confirmation process can be done quickly.
The decision does not affect the City of Melfort.