Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Sterling and Rock Falls Fire Departments

Transcript

Sterling and Rock Falls Fire Departments · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Suck Valley. You've joined the Waking crew here
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  Speaker 1: on FM ninety five one and a fourteen sixty wix N.
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  Speaker 1: It is eight sixteen on your December Wednesday tenth morning,
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  Speaker 1: and it is talk line time, and you're hearing a
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  Speaker 1: little beeping going on in the booth. That's all right,
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  Speaker 1: it's necessary, it's needed. As I am joined by Sterling
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  Speaker 1: Fire Chief David Northcott and Rock Falls Deputy Chief Kyle Summers.
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  Speaker 1: These two men need to stay informed, so their beeps
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  Speaker 1: are welcome in the booth.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, gentlemen, Thanks for having us.
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  Speaker 3: We're very professional and prepared as you can see.
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  Speaker 1: No, we'd rather have you guys kept in the loop
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  Speaker 1: on what those things. Those things mean. So it's okay,
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  Speaker 1: but you're joining me here today to start off talking
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  Speaker 1: a little bit holiday safety.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so biggest thing this time of year. We like
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  Speaker 3: to stress to everybody it's holidays. People have Christmas lights up,
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  Speaker 3: Christmas trees. I think a lot of people know with
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  Speaker 3: live trees especially, got to keep those live trees watered,
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  Speaker 3: keep an eye on them because if they dry out,
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  Speaker 3: really really big fire risks. So we tell people make
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  Speaker 3: sure you keep those keep those trees watered. Keep an
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  Speaker 3: eye on your Christmas lights. Don't leave lights unattended. Make
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  Speaker 3: sure you're using the proper extension cords if you're using them.
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  Speaker 3: If you're not going to be around, make sure to
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  Speaker 3: keep those lights unplugged too. Then on top of that,
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  Speaker 3: candles people like to use holiday candles. Make sure that you're,
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  Speaker 3: you know, keeping those in a good safe location. Make
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  Speaker 3: sure you're not leaving those unattended as well.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, now, very very important things. And I got to
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  Speaker 1: imagine these are some of the more common holiday mishaps.
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  Speaker 1: I guess we'll call them as lightly as possible.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, And I think awareness of them have gotten
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  Speaker 3: better over the years, but we still like to stress
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  Speaker 3: that because it is a pretty big risk that, you know,
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  Speaker 3: people don't normally have that in their house, so they
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  Speaker 3: kind of kind of get a little bit lax about
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  Speaker 3: how they use all these different holiday decorations and everything.
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  Speaker 3: So we definitely like to keep that awareness out there.
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  Speaker 3: And Chief Northcut's going to talk a little bit about
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  Speaker 3: the keep the Wreath Red campaign. That's something that the
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  Speaker 3: Fire Service has been doing for quite a few years.
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  Speaker 2: Very special campaign. Tell us about it. It is and most
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  Speaker 2: fire departments participate in it, especially the four in our
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  Speaker 2: local areas. We put a wreath up all red lights,
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  Speaker 2: and if there's any holiday related event, then we have
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  Speaker 2: to change one of those bulbs away from red. Some
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  Speaker 2: departments use white, some use green. But basically our motto
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  Speaker 2: is keep the reth thread. So we don't want to
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  Speaker 2: end up with anything. We don't any We don't want
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  Speaker 2: anyone to have an event at all. But if it
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  Speaker 2: is holiday related, then that's when we change the bulb.
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  Speaker 2: But as the Chief said, a lot more awareness these days.
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  Speaker 2: Water in the trees using the proper extension courts, and
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  Speaker 2: then it goes into the cooking as well. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we used to have the big craze for a little
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  Speaker 2: while as a deep fried turkeys. People were doing that
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  Speaker 2: inside of their garages and things like that, and it
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  Speaker 2: didn't go well on some occasions.
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  Speaker 1: No no, and they make for entertaining YouTube video. It's
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  Speaker 1: been a frustrating day for you guys, I imagine, yep.
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  Speaker 2: But and like chief said, the awareness is a lot better.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, social media and things like that help and
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  Speaker 2: and things like you guys, you know, putting us on
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  Speaker 2: and letting us trying to talk and update people on
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  Speaker 2: things so well.
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  Speaker 1: Our local fire departments are always very forward thinking. You know,
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  Speaker 1: one thing that I think is important to highlight and
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  Speaker 1: maybe you guys weren't exactly imagining thinking of talking about,
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  Speaker 1: but I think it's you know, I have Sterling and
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  Speaker 1: rock Falls fire departments in here, right, So you've got
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  Speaker 1: separate names, you think, separate towns, but you guys work
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  Speaker 1: together all the time, not just in responding to scenes,
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  Speaker 1: but in the way that you've you've trained to be
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  Speaker 1: able to coordinate leadership, right.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, yeah, we've and as we're as we're here right now,
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  Speaker 3: we've been working on establishing some consolidated policies and procedures
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  Speaker 3: as well. Not something that makes for real exciting radio talk,
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  Speaker 3: but is kind of a big deal for us. Having
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  Speaker 3: you know, four different full time departments all on the
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  Speaker 3: same page, all agreeing on the same type of policy language,
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  Speaker 3: the same type of on scene procedures.
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  Speaker 2: That's a pretty huge deal for us.
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  Speaker 3: So, like I said, not really exciting, you know for
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  Speaker 3: the radio audience, but exciting for us. And we want
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  Speaker 3: to keep that, keep that relationship going, especially you know,
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  Speaker 3: Stirling and rock Falls. Can't speak for the Dixons, but
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  Speaker 3: they work really well together also, and the four of
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  Speaker 3: us all work really well together.
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  Speaker 2: We've all worked together through the years, but within the
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  Speaker 2: last year year and a half we really pushed harder
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  Speaker 2: to have those procedures and policies in place, and we're
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  Speaker 2: going from the top down the incident command system. We
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  Speaker 2: want it to be the same whether it's in a
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  Speaker 2: Dixon residence or you know, Sterling, rock Falls, it doesn't matter.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to operate the same way. And then that
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  Speaker 2: devils down through the staff. So no matter what jacket
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  Speaker 2: you see, what truck you see, the crews are all
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  Speaker 2: operating the same way, and they know each other is
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  Speaker 2: going to operate that way, and it makes it a
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  Speaker 2: safer environment for us and them, and makes the job
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  Speaker 2: go better for us when we when we do have
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  Speaker 2: to respond.
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  Speaker 1: And makes for faster response times, which is I mean
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  Speaker 1: good news for everybody, yep.
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  Speaker 3: And that's I mean, that's originally how this was born anyway,
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  Speaker 3: was getting as much manpower on scene as quickly as possible.
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  Speaker 3: So rock Falls fire and Sterling fire. We've had an
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  Speaker 3: automatic aid agreement for over twenty years now and we
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  Speaker 3: continue to utilize that so that we get those quicker
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  Speaker 3: response times, get more people on scene, and we've started
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  Speaker 3: to branch out with that to some of the neighboring
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  Speaker 3: departments as well, because the more manpower we can get
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  Speaker 3: on scene, the quicker we can get them on scene,
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  Speaker 3: just results in a better ultimately a better end scenario.
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  Speaker 2: And we're even pushing it out, not forcing it out.
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  Speaker 2: But we want the volunteer departments that we work with
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  Speaker 2: and rely on as well. We want them to understand
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  Speaker 2: it so when they come to us to help us,
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  Speaker 2: then they understand the processes and we don't have to
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  Speaker 2: worry about educating them on the scene. They've already got
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  Speaker 2: that education and fit right in with us.
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  Speaker 1: I think another really important thing to share when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to the fire departments. And I apologize because I
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  Speaker 1: can't think of the name of the app now.
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  Speaker 2: Shame on me.
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  Speaker 1: I wrote a story about it when I was a reporter.
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  Speaker 1: But I think it's important news to share because people
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  Speaker 1: more people need to take advantage of it.
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  Speaker 2: Is there.
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  Speaker 1: You guys have the it's like the app or on
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  Speaker 1: the site you can sign up to share information about
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  Speaker 1: your house connect community connect. Yes, okay, so we can
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  Speaker 1: already tell you guys are going to do.
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  Speaker 2: A much better job. Share.
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  Speaker 1: Let everybody know what community connect this. This is really important, folks.
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  Speaker 2: So we're pushing hard for the residents to use. Anyone
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  Speaker 2: in Sterling's jurisdiction can sign up through the Sterling Community Connect.
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  Speaker 2: Anyone in the rock fallsurs diction can do the same.
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  Speaker 2: And you put everything in there that you want that
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  Speaker 2: gives us a better chance of looking at it on
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  Speaker 2: the way to your home if there's an event that
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  Speaker 2: you've totally shut offs, how many people are possibly in
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  Speaker 2: the home where those bedrooms are located, especially at night,
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  Speaker 2: and other information like that, you know, pets and et cetera.
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  Speaker 2: But it gives us that ability to pull it up
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  Speaker 2: on the computer on the way and see that and
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  Speaker 2: had that knowledge already going into it. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're a business that has to go in with unknowns
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  Speaker 2: a lot. But the more that we know, the better
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  Speaker 2: it is for us and gives us a better chance
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  Speaker 2: to have success. Yep.
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  Speaker 3: And important part of that too is that that information
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  Speaker 3: stays with the fire department. We don't share that publicly,
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  Speaker 3: so people can share a lot of private information on
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  Speaker 3: there that's important to them that they want us to know.
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  Speaker 3: Going to an incident and we won't share that with anyone.
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  Speaker 3: We keep it right in the fire department and we're
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  Speaker 3: the only ones that have access to that program.
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  Speaker 2: That's a valid point. Chief at garage door codes were
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  Speaker 2: a key might be hidden or something like that. Absolutely
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  Speaker 2: nobody can see it other than the fire department.
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  Speaker 1: But I mean, such a great resource for you guys.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it's all about knowledge and time, you know,
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  Speaker 1: you guys, you know, for those of us who who
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  Speaker 1: don't know a whole lot about the process, you guys
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  Speaker 1: aren't rolling up on the scene, you know, throwing a
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  Speaker 1: hose through the first window you see with some flames
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  Speaker 1: and busting outdoors. You're making game plans and you're using,
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  Speaker 1: like you said, as much knowns while having to deal
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  Speaker 1: with the unknown. So you're only helping yourself by sharing
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  Speaker 1: this information, is the way I see it.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, And that's something that people don't get to see,
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  Speaker 3: is what goes on leading up to an incident. They
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  Speaker 3: see it from their standpoint. From ours, there's a lot
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  Speaker 3: of conversations that are happening, especially with the crews that
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  Speaker 3: are in the trucks that are responding. They're formulating a
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  Speaker 3: game plan. We call it an incident action plan, but
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  Speaker 3: they're formulating that on their way to the call, so
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  Speaker 3: even without seeing anything, they're already formulating what their plan
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  Speaker 3: is going to be based on the information that they're
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  Speaker 3: getting from the caller. And like to Chief's point, the
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  Speaker 3: more information that we have about that home before we
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  Speaker 3: even get there, the better. So pictures of the home,
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  Speaker 3: how it's laid out, he brought up. You know, utility
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  Speaker 3: shutoffs big one right now, solar panels and generators. A
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  Speaker 3: lot of people are putting those on their homes. That's
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  Speaker 3: important safety information for us to know ahead of time.
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  Speaker 1: There you go, folks, make sure you share that information.
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  Speaker 1: The best way to sign up for that if.
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  Speaker 2: You just google Sterling Community connect or rock Falls Community
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  Speaker 2: connect or contact one of the fire departments, either one.
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  Speaker 2: It's also on our Facebook page website. I'm sure Rock
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  Speaker 2: Falls as well. I can't speak for that.
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  Speaker 1: Yep, yeah, but perfect be sure to head on over
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  Speaker 1: there sign up for that. Saving minutes could save you
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  Speaker 1: could save your lives. So you never know. We hope
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  Speaker 1: these things never happen, but we live in the real world.
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  Speaker 1: That's why we have fire departments. That's why they have
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  Speaker 1: training and planning, and that's why they have this technology
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  Speaker 1: to help save your home in your lives. Anything else
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  Speaker 1: you guys wanted to share this morning.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I want to do a shameless plug for the
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  Speaker 3: rock Falls Fire Department at Christmas light display. We're down
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  Speaker 3: at Centennial Park. If anyone hasn't gone through the light
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  Speaker 3: display yet, the tourism and the Tourism department and the
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  Speaker 3: park district do a great job organizing this light display.
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  Speaker 3: It's something really great for the two towns and honestly
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  Speaker 3: the entire area. So if people get a chance, go
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  Speaker 3: down there and see it Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday
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  Speaker 3: night up until the holidays. And like I said, shameless plug,
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  Speaker 3: please vote for the Fire department for best light display.
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  Speaker 3: We're still trying to get that win.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I might as well do a shameless plug as well.
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  Speaker 2: The City of Stirling started a program our city clerk Terry.
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  Speaker 2: She put it together and there's voting and everything for
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  Speaker 2: who's the best and all that. So it's probably the
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  Speaker 2: same style that rock Falls has, but unfortunately I don't
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  Speaker 2: remember the name of it because I wasn't prepared to
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  Speaker 2: do less plug.
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  Speaker 3: I'm always prepared for a shame.
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  Speaker 1: First rule of a microphone, David, I have a plug ready.
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  Speaker 2: Next time, I'll have something ready if you.
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  Speaker 1: Go perfect perfect, And I got to ask to sadly,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I missed the city city council meetings. How's
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  Speaker 1: each department doing as far as the ranks for firefighters?
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  Speaker 1: Do you have any openings? Are we needing any speaking.
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  Speaker 3: Of plugs, yeah, absolutely, so that's actually a better plug
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  Speaker 3: than the light display. We do have one more opening
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  Speaker 3: that we're hiring for in Rock Falls. If people are
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  Speaker 3: interested in that, they can take the test out at
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  Speaker 3: Sock Valley Community College. Again, they can get a hold
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  Speaker 3: of us at the fire station or look it up
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  Speaker 3: on Facebook or Google it. There's a flyer that they
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  Speaker 3: can use a QR code that'll give them more information.
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  Speaker 3: But yep, if anyone's interested, they can go out to
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  Speaker 3: Sock Valley and Tay and take that test for eligibility.
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  Speaker 2: And on our side, we're still down as well starting
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  Speaker 2: a new entry list. We use the National Testing Network,
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  Speaker 2: so if they go to that site and go to
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  Speaker 2: U Sterling, Illinois, then they can test for us specifically
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  Speaker 2: through that site, they can test for others. But yeah,
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  Speaker 2: we're in the process as well.
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  Speaker 1: So there you go. Folks sign up for Community connect
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  Speaker 1: better yet, be a Sock Valley firefighter over at Rock
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  Speaker 1: Falls or Sterling. Kyle David, thank you guys so much,
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  Speaker 1: not only for being in the booth today to share
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  Speaker 1: this important information, but for putting your lives on the
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  Speaker 1: line every day for all that you do for the
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  Speaker 1: Salk Valley. I'm sure I'm not the only person extending
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  Speaker 1: some gratitude here, but I'll speak on behalf of my
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  Speaker 1: listeners in the Salk Valley. Thank you both so much.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you thanks for having us.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely I'll look forward to future updates from the Rock
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  Speaker 1: Falls and Sterling fire departments.