A Yarmouth County fire chief is praising the Yarmouth Fire Department dispatch service.
Jeff Richardson of the Valley and District Fire Department says a fire early this morning at an abandoned house could have been much worse.
The fire destroyed the old farm house on the Hamilton Road in Pleasant Valley.
Te call came into to Yarmouth dispatch around 1:30 a.m.
Richardson says they were concerned the wind would spread the flames into nearby woods, which are tinder dry.
“Peter Poirier was the dispatcher. I was just leaving the fire hall and he had already called in Lake Vaughn and Lakes and District fire departments. Because of that, having so much manpower and water on hand, we were able to knock it down quickly and keep it from spreading to the woods,”
He says the dispatchers knowledge of remote, rural areas is invaluable.
Richardson says the front of the house was in flames when they first arrived and the balloon-type framing allowed the flames to quickly spread to the walls.
An excavator was used to pull down the structure so fire fighters could extinguish hot spots.
The Town of Yarmouth is planning to eliminate the four full-time dispatch jobs and is seeking quotes from other service providers to save money.
It says taxpayers are shouldering the lion’s share of the cost.
