DALLAS COUNTY, Mo. (KY3)—The Dallas County Southern Fire Protection District is conducting a survey to improve its firefighting efforts.

They are inspecting homes that may be difficult to reach in the event of a fire and planning to fight fires at those residences in advance.

“We recognized that there are numerous properties in our district, which is typical of any Rural Fire District, that potentially have access issues. So in rural firefighting, obviously, there are no fire hydrants, and we have to bring our own water, and we do that using water tankers that carry anywhere from three to 4,000 gallons at a time,” Chief Dave Moore said. “Some of them actually have a winding road with trees that prohibit, you know, a tanker from passing through. So I initially used Google satellite to identify potentially difficult properties and made a list of the ones that were obvious or that I couldn’t make out and started inspecting those properties to determine which ones needed to have a pre-arrival plan so we knew which ones we were headed to. Yes, God forbid, we get a fire call there in case of a house fire.”

Chief Moore says they will be submitting their plans to send them to Buffalo, so they will be ready if they are sent to one of those houses.

“In a structural fire, minutes count statistically every 30 seconds. A house fire doubles in size. So if we stand there for five minutes trying to decide what to do instead of knowing what we need to do before we get there, it can make a big difference in saving the house,” Chief Moore said.

Chief Moore used Google Earth to find those properties and determine if they are difficult to access. He then went out and inspected them if necessary.

“Once we determine that the property is difficult to access or has special needs, we make a plan for how many feet of large diameter hose we would need to run, for example, from the road to the house, if, if there is room, some of They have room to back up a tanker, but only one at a time. These types of notes will then be included in the record of that property in our office in Buffalo. And if there is ever a fire call there for a house fire, they will relay that information to us as we respond to the station to pick up the appliances so we know what we need to do before we get there,” Chief Moore said.

Chief Moore said long roads, winding roads or narrow driveways can be difficult when fighting a fire. That’s why they need to know these things beforehand.

“In the country, here, we don’t have hydrants, so we have to carry the water to one tank at a time, and it is imperative that there is enough space for those vehicles to get to the place because a pump like this normally only has the capacity to 1000 gallons of water. An average home fire consumes 20,000 gallons of water. That’s why it’s absolutely imperative that we were able to get the apparatus to the fire,” Chief Moore said.

Chief Moore says no matter where you live, if you live in a rural area and think your property is difficult to access, have the fire department come out and take a look.

“My recommendation would be, if there’s a chance that there’s tight access or there’s no room to turn around for the big tankers, which are, you know, 35 feet, 40 feet long. In some cases, contact your local fire department. Have the boss or deputy boss come and do a survey of your property. Hopefully they’ve already done it, but if not, let them come and look at it and say, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to come up with a plan here, in case a house fire ever breaks out,'” Chief Moore said.

Chief Moore also encourages local fire departments to conduct similar surveys in their neighborhoods. This helps you know your community and serve it better.

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