Fire District Clarifies Move To Franklin County Dispatch

The Sullivan Independent News reported in the October 5, 2022 edition that Sullivan Fire Protection District would be switching its 911 dispatch service back to Franklin County following several years with Washington County Dispatch, a move that has been clarified that will save the district money plus provide faster response through a new program.

The Franklin County Commission approved Commission Order 2022-352 which amended a previous agreement with Sullivan Fire District with the annual rate of services for 911 dispatch being reduced from $25,300 to $10,000 as Sullivan Fire will be utilizing a mobile cad system that places iPads in all response vehicles and gives firefighters the alarm and directions without having to speak immediately to dispatchers in Franklin County.

“We have had some issues with radio reception and minor interruptions happening for sometime with Washington County and it just wasn’t getting any better,” said Chief Eric Lewis. “When these matters continued, we looked into going back to Franklin County Dispatch. There are a lot of moving parts with the current service in that 911 calls get dispatched to Franklin County and then sent to Washington County for dispatch and the fact that Missouri Baptist Ambulance gets dispatched by Sullivan Police we felt it was time to make a change.”

Lewis felt that the move could help increase response times for alarms and less chances for radio traffic to be interrupted.

“We will officially make the switch on December 28, at 8 a.m. so that we have time to make sure everything is functioning properly before the contract with Franklin County begins on January 1, 2023,” concluded Chief Lewis.