Last Thursday, August 4th, the Crofton Fire Department caught up with some yearly maintenance, as well as a new upgrade that will greatly increase the efficiency of Crofton’s overall citizen warning systems.
A fire truck and a van could be seen sitting along Highway 12 that afternoon. Fire Chief Dave Hansen said, “Yearly we have to take all our hoses off the trucks, hook them up, and pressure test them for a certain amount of time. Then we know of our equipment’s durability for the coming year.”
As well as the due diligence, a new addition was made to the Fire Hall. A company called Two Way Solutions, based out of Sioux Falls, came and installed a controller box to the town’s fire and severe weather whistle.
Previously, the whistle could only be activated by someone inside the Fire Hall.
The controller box, now allows both county seats in Center and Hartington, to trip Crofton’s whistle at an appropriate time. This allows for an earlier warning and perhaps a faster emergency response.
Jason Wavrunek, a volunteer fireman and storm watcher added, “The next thing we would move towards is to make it possible for the fireman to also activate the whistle with our individual radios. Also I would like to see us continue to work with the City of Crofton, to look for grants or see about establishing two more whistles. One for the North and South sides of town.”
In light of the recent dry weather, and harvest season approaching, these upgrades, tests and future plans provide peace of mind, and a sense of preparedness.