Calling In Controlled Burns Saves Your Tax Money
July 22, 2020
Isaac Estes-Jones
The North Stone Northeast Barry County Fire Protection District continues to ask property owners to call in their controlled burns to prevent unnecessary dispatches.
According to Tom Hinkler, a volunteer firefighter who also serves on the board for the fire district, fuel alone for a dispatch to a controlled burn would cost the district over $200.
“Let’s say someone calls in what they think is a brush fire, but is really a controlled burn. We would get dispatched and would probably run three brush trucks and a brush engine out. Fuel alone, depending on where in our district the fire is, would probably be around $250,” Hinkler said. All of the department’s funding comes from tax payer dollars.
Adding to this issue, if the firefighters arrive to the reported location and cannot locate the fire, they must spend more time looking for the fire before they can clear the call.
The North Stone Northeast Barry County Fire district is comprised only of volunteers. “When those volunteers are out looking for a fire that isn’t there, they can’t respond to other calls,” Hinkler said. Most of the calls the fire district is dispatched to lately have been medical calls, whether for a wreck or for some other medical emergency. First responders cannot save lives if they cannot answer a call while they are out on something unrelated.
Report all controlled burns to the dispatch non-emergency number for your county. In Stone County, that number is 417-339-9147. Calling 417-847-3121 gets you to the Barry County central dispatch. It does not take much time, but can save a lot of time and money in the long run. Dispatch will ask where the fire will be and a few other basic questions. That way, when someone calls in after seeing the burn, dispatch will know there is supposed to be a controlled burn in that area and can ask follow up questions to determine if the controlled burn has gone out of control, so to speak.
The North Stone Northeast Barry County Fire Protection District operates on an annual budget of around $100,000. Those funds pay for maintenance on the fire apparatus, gear for firefighters and fuel.
In the first half of July, the district reports responding to the following calls:
7/1 - Motor Vehicle Accident
7/1 - Medical
7/1 - Medical
7/4 - Medical
7/5 - Medical
7/5 - Medical v
7/5 - Motor Vehicle Accident
7/5 - Traffic Incident
7 /7 - Medical
7/9 - Medical
7/10 - Medical
7/11 - Medical
7/12 – Controlled Burn – Called in
7/12 - Disturbance
7/13 - Well-being check
7/14 - Medical
7/14 - Wildland Fire
7/15 - Medical
The North Stone Northeast Barry County Fire Protection District continues to ask property owners to call in their controlled burns to prevent unnecessary dispatches.
According to Tom Hinkler, a volunteer firefighter who also serves on the board for the fire district, fuel alone for a dispatch to a controlled burn would cost the district over $200.
“Let’s say someone calls in what they think is a brush fire, but is really a controlled burn. We would get dispatched and would probably run three brush trucks and a brush engine out. Fuel alone, depending on where in our district the fire is, would probably be around $250,” Hinkler said. All of the department’s funding comes from tax payer dollars.
Adding to this issue, if the firefighters arrive to the reported location and cannot locate the fire, they must spend more time looking for the fire before they can clear the call.
The North Stone Northeast Barry County Fire district is comprised only of volunteers. “When those volunteers are out looking for a fire that isn’t there, they can’t respond to other calls,” Hinkler said. Most of the calls the fire district is dispatched to lately have been medical calls, whether for a wreck or for some other medical emergency. First responders cannot save lives if they cannot answer a call while they are out on something unrelated.
Report all controlled burns to the dispatch non-emergency number for your county. In Stone County, that number is 417-339-9147. Calling 417-847-3121 gets you to the Barry County central dispatch. It does not take much time, but can save a lot of time and money in the long run. Dispatch will ask where the fire will be and a few other basic questions. That way, when someone calls in after seeing the burn, dispatch will know there is supposed to be a controlled burn in that area and can ask follow up questions to determine if the controlled burn has gone out of control, so to speak.
The North Stone Northeast Barry County Fire Protection District operates on an annual budget of around $100,000. Those funds pay for maintenance on the fire apparatus, gear for firefighters and fuel.
In the first half of July, the district reports responding to the following calls:
7/1 - Motor Vehicle Accident
7/1 - Medical
7/1 - Medical
7/4 - Medical
7/5 - Medical
7/5 - Medical v
7/5 - Motor Vehicle Accident
7/5 - Traffic Incident
7 /7 - Medical
7/9 - Medical
7/10 - Medical
7/11 - Medical
7/12 – Controlled Burn – Called in
7/12 - Disturbance
7/13 - Well-being check
7/14 - Medical
7/14 - Wildland Fire
7/15 - Medical