A Culver resident appealed to the Culver Town Council last week asking that the fire whistle be silent for fire calls overnight.
Robert Miller said he believes that the fire whistle goes off for every call for emergency responders and firefighters. He said he lives a very short distance from the tower and is constantly bothered by the whistle in the middle of the night.
Council President Ginny Bess Munroe stated that the whistle acts as an alert for firefighters if a call is dispatched, but Miller argued that he’s spoken to a few of the firefighters who live close to the tower and they’re more apt to be alerted by radios than hearing the siren. Munroe said she fears that if the siren isn’t initiated, the radio capability for notification may be down and that’s the only way the firefighters are called to duty.
Miller added that the fire trucks are usually quiet in the middle of the night when they respond to the call as there are very few people driving in the area to alert of the fire truck’s presence.
Munroe asked Fire Chief Terry Wakefield to discuss the issue with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department Communications Department and the dispatch center to clarify the protocol. Wakefield said he thought only radio tones were supposed to be sent after 11 p.m. with the siren to be silent, but he will research it with the sheriff’s department.
