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Torrington officials urge residents to report controlled burns, praise volunteers and EMC Kenyon
Summary
Council members thanked volunteer firefighters and Emergency Management Coordinator Kenyon for grant support and urged residents to call dispatch ahead of controlled burns to avoid unnecessary emergency responses; Chief Matthew Johnson described the burden on volunteers when burns are unreported.
At the Jan. 6 Torrington City Council meeting officials urged residents to report planned controlled burns and publicly thanked volunteer responders and emergency-management staff.
Mayor Herb Doby reminded residents who will hold controlled burns to call the dispatch non-emergency line ahead of time and provide relevant information. Chief of Police Matthew Johnson recognized Emergency Management Coordinator Kenyon for his work securing grant-funded equipment and said the department is grateful for his efforts. "EMC Kenyon is incredibly selfless and helpful, and goes way above and beyond of what is required of his job to help a lot of the departments in the City get the equipment they need to provide really high quality service to the community," Johnson said.
On the subject of burns, Chief Johnson explained the operational strain when burns are not reported: "when a controlled burn is not reported ahead of time and dispatch sends the fire department out to assist, it is not folks that were sitting around twiddling their thumbs that get called out. It is men and women that were serving in their full-time jobs or trying to take care of their families that have to bail out and go help for something that they really were not needed for." The council also commended the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department for a quick response earlier that day to a grass fire amid high winds.
The council asked residents to use the non-emergency dispatch number (307-532-7001) to provide advance notice of controlled burns and reduce unnecessary calls on volunteer responders.
