Different types of fires were the No. 1 reason Powell firefighters answered the call last year, but plenty of false fire alarms kept them scrambling too.

Powell Volunteer Fire Department Chief Damian Dicks provided Park County Fire Protection District No. 1 Board of Directors with a list of 2015 fire calls at the district’s monthly meeting Feb. 2.

In 2015, firefighters responded to 254 calls. That includes 96 actual fires.

Topping the list were 11 building fires, 66 brush/grass fires, three chimney fires and three vehicle fires, according to Dicks’ list. Powell firefighters performed 50 motor vehicle crash extrications last year. 

They also responded to 64 smoke detector alarms that were not fires. Dicks said 55 were probably at Northwest College dormitories. Because exhaust fans over stoves in dormitory kitchenettes are not large enough to clear smoke, more detectors sound, contributing to the number of false alarms.

“Almost all those we were called to were burnt food or burnt popcorn in the dorms,” Dicks said.

The department is working with the college to remedy the problem and reduce the number of false alarms, Dicks said.

Siren serenade

As fire chief, Dicks said he receives complaints concerning the air raid sirens around town that sound off when the fire department is called to a fire or other emergency. Some people like the sirens and some don’t.

The siren does notify residents when firefighters are rushing to an emergency on local streets, but not all people know that, Dicks said.

He also said he is looking at alternatives — one would be silencing the sirens late at night.

“We’re trying to come up with some different ideas or options. If we do make a change, it will be for the good of the community and department,” Dicks said.

In other communities around the country, similar sirens are used as a natural disaster alert, such as a tornado, Dicks said.

The dispatch center at the Park County Sheriff’s Office pages the fire department’s volunteers via pagers and text messages to their cell phones.

The center also recently received new dispatch consoles. The Powell Fire Department and center are working to configure the consoles to activate the civil defense element of the siren if needed, Dicks said. “This would be a continuous siren to alert of a disaster such as a tornado,” he said.

Engine No. 3, a tanker that had a sump leak, has been repaired. Gravel between the bottom of the 3,500-gallon tank and the frame was believed to be the cause of the leak. The gravel eventually ground a hole in the tank, said the district’s administrator, Kenny Skalsky.

Skalsky said he drove the truck back from Frederick, Colorado, where Front Range Fire Apparatus found and fixed the problem.

Because the tank was not originally installed properly on the 2009 Kenworth, the district had to pay for the repairs, Skalsky said at the district’s January meeting.

The repair bill was $8,199.

Ten Sleep Rural Fire District took ownership of old Engine No. 6 on Jan. 29, Skalsky said.

Engine No. 6 is a 2007 Ford F550 brush truck used to fight fires in fields. Ten Sleep made the only bid at $50,000. The district voted last month to accept the bid.

“It will be a good truck for them,” Skalsky said.