(submitted photo/Jason Everitt)

By Mat Barrett

Lock-Box Program

City of Melfort and fire department launch Lock-Box Program

Mar 27, 2019 | 3:52 PM

The City of Melfort and the Melfort Fire Department have launched a new program to help commercial property owners in the city in the event of a call for the Fire Department.

The Lock-Box program allows property owners to buy a lock box and put their keys in it. It is a steel box that is mounted to the building, and Melfort Fire Chief Jason Everitt said it’s similar to a realtor lock box.

“Inside this box, you can place the keys for access to the building,” Everitt told northeastNOW. “Fire alarm panels, if you’re sprinkler system has a lock on it, you can put that in there as well. The critical keys that the Fire Department would need if they were responding to your occupancy.”

Everitt said only department members, and the owner will have access to the box.

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“It’s a special key that’s cut, its restricted only to Melfort,” Everitt said adding the box lock is also restricted. “We’re confident that the keys that are placed inside that will be maintained safe and secure in the event that the fire department needs it.”

Currently, if the department needs to respond to an occupancy and they don’t hold a key for the building, the department must either wait for a key holder, or break a window or even a door to gain entry.

“Timely access inside a structure is key to making our jobs safer and also reducing the amount of loss that could potentially be sustained by an owner of a business,” Everitt said. “Taking out a window or forcing a commercial door to get in has a huge cost to that.”

Boxes cost $375 on what Everitt said is a “cost recovery basis” for those boxes. The boxes are available at city hall.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6