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Just wondering if any of you had ever heard of or had anything stolen from your firehouse. We try to leave our doors unlocked to keep from having to make up a bunch of keys and it would also slow response time down. We have however, had some items come up "missing" in the last few months. We have had the local cops patroling by our station more often but that hasn't helped. Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions?

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We have not had anything stolen from the firehouse but I would highly suggest to invest in locking the doors. It takes very little time to unlock the door when you get an emergency run. I believe it is better for the people your department serves to have the station locked and vehicles and equipment secure.

Just a thought.
I agree with Joe. We are a volunteer dept and we keep ours locked. Haven't had any problems with response.
I must agree with the rest, the additional 30 seconds it might take to unlock the doors shouldn't create that big of a delay in your response time. My station uses numeric key pads that are three numbers (123) and then ENTER and wham you’re in. Just a thought, it cuts down on key expense but still allows you to secure your station.
Again, I think that locking the doores is best. I think it's better to take an extra couple seconds unlocking the door rather than getting to a scene and finding out something is missing. Especially if it's something you need. Think of how long it would take to have to find a spare or wait for another truck to bring it.
We also use the key pad,and have had very good luck with it Stay Safe
Dan Rice said:
I must agree with the rest, the additional 30 seconds it might take to unlock the doors shouldn't create that big of a delay in your response time. My station uses numeric key pads that are three numbers (123) and then ENTER and wham you’re in. Just a thought, it cuts down on key expense but still allows you to secure your station.
I totally agree with the numeric key pads for access to the apparatus and maybe the common areas too. They are an investment in keeping people out of where they don't belong. If you need to secure highly valuable supplies or other stuff use a key lock. We usually change our combo number out every couple of months for people who may have left on not so good terms or it gets out to those who are not in the department. The numeric locks work very well even down to 40 below weather.

It wouldn't be an issue if people were honest and cared about their community because they are only stealing from themselves if the department uses tax payer money.

KTF
i agree you need to lock your doors, We have had things come up missing as well. Cant trust anyone anymore. Also if funding allows purchase bay door openers, have the bay door open by time you get out of your POV. Plus you can close the door behind you. Good Luck
I agree with the keypad. I am on 3 departments and two of them have keypads and the other one everyone has keys. I have never had to use the key in an emergency situation because at that department I am a part time employee so I am always there when I respond to calls. As for the two where we have keypads it is simple. Being Volunteer Depts we have people that live close and people that live further away. On one of my departments, the first person to come in unlocks the door after they are in and opens all the bay doors. By the time we get more people at the station the bay doors are open and or members just enter through them. My other department because parking is on the side of the building where the access doors are we have a door stop on the bottom and the first person drops that and it holds the door open so no one else has to try to unlock the door. Those two seem to work the best.

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