West Fargo Fire Dept.’s new automated dispatch system cuts down on confusion & response times

WEST FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – The West Fargo Fire Department has a new automated dispatching system.

“The lights come on when the call goes out. There’s reader boards that tell us what the address is instead of having to try and listen to the audio,” West Fargo Fire Chief Dan Fuller said.

Fuller calls it a much easier process with a calmer tone. It also removes possible confusion and emotion from the dispatcher telling crews where to go.

“They can’t hear it if it’s scratchy, if the radio reception’s bad, if they’re in a part of the building that this has an echo or something then a lot of times they’ll have to go either look at their pager or go look at the computer screen in the dispatch room to figure out what’s going on before they get into the truck. So, it’s cutting all that out,” Fuller explained.

The system is helping firefighters get to their trucks and the scene quicker.

Dispatchers used to have to get information from a caller, put them on hold and tell firefighters on the radio where they need to go. Now all they have to share is the address.

“The dispatcher types in what the call is and it automatically populates with what the recommended units to send are and they hit the button to send it and our automated dispatch system does the rest,” Fuller said.

It even helps firefighters who are sleeping not get woken up by an alarm. It only notifies who need to be out on a call.

The system costed $200,000 and was part of the fire department’s 2022 budget.

It’s an internet-based system. If there are issues, the fire station has a dual-fed fiber optic system. If one part isn’t working, it will start using the second one.

Fuller says Fargo and Moorhead fire departments have been asking about the new technology.

“We’re happy to share our knowledge and information with them to help them get on board and have a nice, unified thing across the metro that everyone’s done in the same way,” Fuller said.

West Fargo will begin hiring three firefighters next month and six in May.