Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter Fire Department rang in the New Year in hopes of educating the public in fire safety and making sure everyone keeps a home smoke detector with fresh batteries. Did you know that the dexter Fire Department responded to 231 calls in 2015?
Their goal in 2015 was to increase public relations. They participated in many events including Pink-Up for Cancer, PAT Big Truck Night, Dexter Homecoming Tailgate event, and even handed out candy to little trick-or-treaters on Halloween. They will continue this goal for the 2016 year with more exciting events planned as well as increase safety awareness.
"The goal for 2016 is to continue to strive to be the best fire department we can be," commented Fire Chief Don Seymore. "And to increase training in life safety and to protect properties of the surrounding area."
The Dexter Fire Department responded to 17 Structure Fires, 10 Passenger Vehicle Fire, 13 Unauthorized Burnings, and numerous other categories including, but not limited to Cooking Fire, Trash Fire, Brush Fire, Gas Leak, Electrical Wiring, Carbon Monoxide Incident, EMS, Power Line Down, Water or Steam Leak, False Alarm, Malfunction to Alarm Systems, and Flood Assessment, even a dog rescue, and numerous other categories.
The average time the Dexter Fire Department is on a scene over the 231 calls is 46 minutes and 15 seconds. Their average response time from dispatch to arrival is 7:00 minutes for a fire call and 10:00 minutes for an EMS response throughout the county. Dexter Fire Department responds to city and county calls and are "lumped" together when getting the average call time.
The Dexter Fire Department also prides itself on being ready for any task at hand and the men spend numerous hours in training throughout the year. In 2015, the fire department employees racked up an impressive 2,124 hours of training. They gained three firefighters in Level 3 Haz-Mat and firefighters in Haz-Mat Operations Level 5 in Firefighter 1 and 2.
The firefighters spent numerous hours in Vehicle Rescue Technician Class, Large Vehicle Rescue, Pipe Line Emergency Response, Haz-Mat Technician Refresher Course, Haz-Mat Awareness, Haz-Mat Operations, Hwy Safety, Grain Engulfment Rescue, Handling of LP Gas, Basic Pump Operations, Firefighter 1 Training and Firefighter 2 Training. They increased the number of hours from 2014 to 2015 by more than 1,000 hours of training. Pretty impressive numbers for a small town in southeast Missouri.
We are fortunate in Dexter to have such a dedicated crew of firefighters. As many residents have seen or experiences the bright flashing lights traveling down streets of our small town. Thank you from all of the citizens of Dexter and the surrounding area. We wish the firemen a safe and happy 2016 new year!
Photo credit to Dee Loflin, ShowMe Times Manager/Editor.
