Sheriff calls for dispatch change

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - On Wednesday, Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries called for a major overhaul of how some emergency crews are dispatched. Specifically, the sheriff is talking about fire crews in recently annexed areas.

The sheriff wants Fort Wayne's city administrators to consider a Dual Response Policy. It would call for volunteer departments that have always responded to an area to continue to do so alongside city crews.

Fries says dual response in annexed areas has been a concern since the city first annexed the Saint Joe area.

Recently, though, a fatal fire at the Willows of Coventry in Aboite has served as an opportunity to explore the city's dispatching system. In that case, Aboite Township volunteers were never called out, even though their station shares a property line with the Willows of Coventry Complex.

The sheriff says volunteer stations are manned during the day, and to not utilize them for priority one calls is negligent.

"My goal is public safety," said Fries in an interview with NewsChannel 15's Megan Stembol. "My goal is to get a first responder to somebody's house or accident scene first. I don't care if it says Fort Wayne. I don't care if it says Aboite. If I'm in trouble I want help."

Fries believes the pros of a dual response far outweigh the cons. NewsChannel 15 asked Fries if it is unsafe to have extra emergency vehicles and volunteer responders all speeding to a scene.

"There may be a few more on the initial response," answered Fries. "But once one of the crews gets there, they can tell the other ones to disregard. The beauty of that is they'll be on standby immediately."

Fries, a former volunteer fire fighter says the city already has a dual response agreement in the Southwest fire district, so it's not something that isn't plausible. He says he's brought up this issue several times to city leaders, but he's gotten little response.

"It's not about the firefighters, it's a systemic problem of getting them there," Fries said, repeatedly applauding the work of volunteer and paid firefighters working to keep the public safe.