Again we’re back to discussing the Lakewood fire siren and its continued use. I am mostly interested in stating the facts that were again misrepresented or left out by Margot Russell’s usual one-sided column writing in The Post-Journal. It’s unfortunate that their reporter who was in attendance the night of the vote on the siren never bothered to also print the reasons why we have decided to continue its use.

First of all, according to the Insurance Services Office, an organization responsible for setting the rates for business and homeowner’s insurance in any given community requires that any department responding to 750 or more calls per year must have two means of notification. One is our pagers and although we use “I Am Responding” and the county’s text messaging system, these do not count as a second means of notification because they are not redundant and do not prioritize. In other words, if a tower is busy, the system is unable to determine that this is an emergency message and it waits like any other text message to be sent, sometimes for several hours. Therefore, the only other means of notification that is recognized is the fire siren. Lakewood has the best classification from ISO that is available without our being a career department having the station manned 24 hours a day. If we lose the siren, that is points lost toward our classification and a potential significant increase in the rates businesses and homeowners will pay for fire insurance in Lakewood. Lakewood is also the busiest all-volunteer department in Chautauqua County and the only volunteer department responding to over 750 calls annually, so while they may tell you that other departments are not using their sirens, Lakewood has to according to the ISO mandate.

Secondly, the petition that was submitted contained 117 names, not more than 200 as Ms. Russell inaccurately wrote in her column. Of the 117 names, 43 did not live in the village of Lakewood or in the Lakewood Fire District; 10 more lived so far on the outskirts of the village or the district that they can’t possibly be disturbed by the siren. One resident signed from Chicago, several from Jamestown, Kennedy, Chautauqua and various other places. So, there may be a little over 60 names that actually could hear and be disturbed by the siren. Several of these are from the same households. If anyone would like to verify these facts, I have a copy of the petition.

Third, in every article that is printed about the Lakewood Fire Department, they all say how much they appreciate what we do and the service we perform for our community. The problem is, all love us as long as we do things that don’t inconvenience them. Don’t block my road, or make my water roily, or use your sirens in the middle of the night. One of the comments on the petition said, “it blows at inconvenient times.” Isn’t it too bad that people’s tragedies inconvenience this entitled group of residents?

One way to eliminate the siren is for the village to investigate the possibility of having a paid, career fire department. Jamestown does not have fire sirens because they are manned 24 hours a day. We have looked into the cost of that in the past and I don’t believe anyone in the village of Lakewood is prepared to shoulder that cost.

Lastly, I am “surprised” that a discussion and subsequent vote on the matter of the siren was a “surprise” to some residents. All these residents know when the village board meetings take place and this has been a topic for several meetings prior to the one where the vote was taken. Fortunately, the board wanted to try to put the matter to rest so that other necessary topics can be handled. I agre that it’s good that people feel free to attend board meetings and express themselves. However, it should not be discussions of weeks and weeks, we need to hear both sides and then make a decision on these matters. This was done by the board in what I feel was a timely matter.

I also wonder who Margot Russell got her facts from and why she never bothered to contact me before writing this column. I know she has my number because she has called me in the past. When I took journalism in school, they always emphasized speaking to all parties involved and getting the facts first. The Post-Journal’s slogan is “Truth Above All Else.” Sorry P-J, I give this column a “thumbs down!”

I have lived in Lakewood all my life and I cannot remember a time when people seem to be so bitter about the things their neighbors are doing. Express yourself, but then accept the final decision of those you have asked to represent you. As someone once said, “Why can’t we all just get along?”

Kurt Hallberg is Lakewood fire chief.