Reporting controlled burns saves rural fire depts. time, effort
October 16, 2019
Vinnie Roberts
There are many smells in the air that signal to the citizens of Barry County that fall has made its way to Missouri. One of the chief among them is the smell of the fires of controlled burns in the air.
Every year, many citizens in the county conduct a controlled burn on their property to rid themselves of extra yard waste. In the more rural parts of the county, however, this activity sometimes prompts an unnecessary response to these fires.
Pamela Stilwell, assistant fire chief of the Eagle Rock-Golden-Mano Fire Department, claims that these calls often come in far away from the fire when residents in other areas notice smoke coming above the treeline.
“Where we are out in Eagle Rock, geographically, you’ll have someone start a big burn pile in their yard and someone from across the lake will call it in as a fire when they see the smoke,” explained Stilwell. “Sometimes we’ll get calls from as far out as Shell Knob because of where we are.”
The assistant fire chief continued, detailing how these calls also lead to a large amount of wasted effort for the firemen responding to calls, as many of them come after hours, when the smoke is most easily visible.
“It causes everyone to have to leave their homes, drive out to reach the station and suit up, just to get there for no emergency,” said Stilwell.
Stilwell went on to explain that these recurrent misunderstandings often lead to a waste of manpower and equipment.
“We get there, and we take out so many resources, engines, dogs, and brush trucks, just land at someone’s house where they tell us that it’s just a controlled burn,” said Stilwell. “It happens over and over again. Some of the people we end up visiting get perturbed that we’re there repeatedly. Some are annoyed that someone even bothered to call it in from across the lake.”
In an effort to save time and resources for rural fire and police stations, the Eagle Rock-Golden Mano Fire Department has been in contact with Barry County’s E911 dispatch center.
“We’ve already discussed this with Barry County dispatch,” Stilwell explained. “If people will just call the non-emergency number and report a controlled burn at their address, what 911 will do is notify us via our active 911 app on our phones.
What happens from that point on is, 911 knows where that is, so they put a pin in it on the map, so if someone from across the lake calls in a fire, they can know that it’s not actually a fire.”
To report a controlled burn on your property, contact Barry County E911 Dispatch through their non-emergency line at (417) 847-3121.
Vinnie Roberts
There are many smells in the air that signal to the citizens of Barry County that fall has made its way to Missouri. One of the chief among them is the smell of the fires of controlled burns in the air.
Every year, many citizens in the county conduct a controlled burn on their property to rid themselves of extra yard waste. In the more rural parts of the county, however, this activity sometimes prompts an unnecessary response to these fires.
Pamela Stilwell, assistant fire chief of the Eagle Rock-Golden-Mano Fire Department, claims that these calls often come in far away from the fire when residents in other areas notice smoke coming above the treeline.
“Where we are out in Eagle Rock, geographically, you’ll have someone start a big burn pile in their yard and someone from across the lake will call it in as a fire when they see the smoke,” explained Stilwell. “Sometimes we’ll get calls from as far out as Shell Knob because of where we are.”
The assistant fire chief continued, detailing how these calls also lead to a large amount of wasted effort for the firemen responding to calls, as many of them come after hours, when the smoke is most easily visible.
“It causes everyone to have to leave their homes, drive out to reach the station and suit up, just to get there for no emergency,” said Stilwell.
Stilwell went on to explain that these recurrent misunderstandings often lead to a waste of manpower and equipment.
“We get there, and we take out so many resources, engines, dogs, and brush trucks, just land at someone’s house where they tell us that it’s just a controlled burn,” said Stilwell. “It happens over and over again. Some of the people we end up visiting get perturbed that we’re there repeatedly. Some are annoyed that someone even bothered to call it in from across the lake.”
In an effort to save time and resources for rural fire and police stations, the Eagle Rock-Golden Mano Fire Department has been in contact with Barry County’s E911 dispatch center.
“We’ve already discussed this with Barry County dispatch,” Stilwell explained. “If people will just call the non-emergency number and report a controlled burn at their address, what 911 will do is notify us via our active 911 app on our phones.
What happens from that point on is, 911 knows where that is, so they put a pin in it on the map, so if someone from across the lake calls in a fire, they can know that it’s not actually a fire.”
To report a controlled burn on your property, contact Barry County E911 Dispatch through their non-emergency line at (417) 847-3121.