Decorah Fire Department and Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce are compiling emergency contact numbers for local businesses

The Decorah Fire Department and the Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce have teamed together in an effort to collect contact information from area businesses.  

The contact information being collected is voluntary. It will be placed on file at both the Decorah Fire Department and Decorah Police Department Dispatch for use in contacting business owners or their primary employees who could respond to assist the departments accessing the business without destroying property.  All contact information will be kept confidential and will only be used when needed for an emergency.  

The Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce has placed a link on their website, www.decorahareachamber.com, that says "Fire Department Response Form."  By clicking on the link you will be directed to an online form that will ask very simple questions such as business name, address, owner, business phone and email.  The fire department also would like to know if the business has any monitored fire alarm systems in place such as smoke alarms, heat detectors or sprinkler systems,

The last question is the most important one--information about after-hours primary emergency contacts.  If you have more than one secondary contacts please add them as well.  Again this information will be kept confidential and only used to contact you in an emergency.     

Having an up to date contact list will be a valuable time resource when an alarm or incident occurs after normal business hours.  Decorah Fire Department spokesman Steve Vanden Brink states, "When we have a smoke alarm going off without signs of a large uncontrolled fire, we prefer not to damage property for a faulty alarm."  He continues "However if we cannot contact someone from the property to let us in, we may have no choice but to force entry into the building to ensure there is no fire. Our intentions would be to limit the damage to the entry point."  Added Decorah Fire Chief Mike Ashbacher, "With more landline phones being dropped for cell phones, for which there is no phone book, it means it is harder for our dispatchers and fire fighters to contact business owners about emergencies with their building."

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Steve Vanden Brink, Decorah Fire Dept PIO officer at 563-382-3472 or 563-380-2581 email dfd@decorahia.org.