In 2016 the fire department had a total of 18 false alarms for the Town of Millet. In 2015 there were 17 false alarms.
Even when firefighters are stood down fora false alarms one non-emergency truck will be sent to the location — mainly for educational purposes.
Millet fire chief Blair Mohr told town council during its Feb. 22 meeting a main focus of the department is educating people why an alarm went off to try to avoid similar occurrences in the future.
Mohr says he has noticed about three residences and one business in town to which the department has responded to multiple false alarms. “We’re going to be a little bit more stern and convince them to do something different.”
When asked if policy included fines for multiple calls at one location Mohr informed councillors that is not how the department is handling false alarms at this time. “I recommend we keep going with the educational process.”
He explained, taking into account the number of houses in town, the Millet Fire Department has responded to one per cent for false alarms. Mohr added if false alarms became an issue for the department fines may be something to look at.
“I certainly support the way you’re handling things,” said mayor Tony Wadsworth. “I want residents to comply on a voluntary basis.”
When it comes to total call volumes the Millet Fire Department is on track with volumes received in previous years.
“We’re sitting at approximately 37 call this year,” said Mohr.
“So we’re on par. (There is) nothing that’s been out of the ordinary,” he added.