Reference the July 2 Jackass Butte fire.

Here is what happened that day in dispatch…

There were a total of 568 telephone calls into the center that day.

911 calls there were 193…this does not count for the 911 calls that went to Ferry County. Our center was taking so many 911 calls that the system automatically started sending calls to Ferry County when they calls started backing up.

For the time frame of 6:00 PM to Midnight ( the fire time) they processed 262 phone calls and of those 160 were 911 calls. That means they were getting 44 calls per hour plus a huge increase in radio traffic as well as required outbound calls.

The center is understaffed with usually only two on during a shift, when it should be three. That day they had to bring in additional people and were running a staff of five, just to handle the volume of phone calls and radio traffic.

I can't say enough about them....it always amazes me how they always seem to pull it off. Excellent staff....

Sheriff Frank Rogers