Lexington officials are updating staffing policies following a weekend barn fire killing 23 horses.
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Glenn Brown said six temporary staff members are being added to the 9-1-1 center.
Money will be sought to make those positions permanent. Brown said these workers will handle strictly non-emergency calls. “Those were being handled by the 9-1-1 operator, non-emergency. But still, it ties up a 9-1-1 operator to try to figure out what the person needs,” explained Brown.
The owner of the Mercury Equine Center has expressed concerns about the length of time it took fire crews to arrive at the scene. The city’s review indicated it was 20 minutes from the time the call came in to the first truck got to the fire. “Within the fire department, that is an appropriate amount of time from call to dispatch to arrival within approximately 20 minutes,” said Brown. “We’re investigating claims that there were issues.”
Brown said just over half of the calls that come in to the 9-1-1 center are administrative phone calls. He said city officials also plan to increase publicity advising citizens not to use 9-1-1 for non-emergency calls. ?
