Hamlet’s lack of building inspections continues to draw concerns, but how to move forward was a topic of some debate during the last town council meeting. Fire Chief Brad Hazelton told council members that, until recently, he was unaware that new buildings are not formally inspected.
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Firefighters from several departments told the Starke County Commissioners on Monday night that they continue to have problems with radio communication.
Firefighters from Knox-Center Township, North Judson-Wayne Township, Hamlet-Davis Township, Koontz Lake-Oregon Township, Railroad Township, and Washington Township Departments are pleading with county officials to help fix an ongoing communication problem with radios.
When Starke County COAD met for the first time Tuesday night, a question from one of the county’s amateur radio operators prompted a discussion about the communication systems utilized by the county’s emergency personnel.
Hamlet Fire Chief and Starke County Council President Brad Hazelton explained that some emergency personnel, such as the Sherriff’s Department, use radios that run on the 800 megahertz spectrum while others, like the fire departments, utilize very high frequency, or VHF technology. Hazelton said, “We can talk to EMS, because they’re VHF and 800 but the police are only 800 and we’re only VHF.” Continue reading
The Hamlet Town Council has formally recognized Brad Hazelton as the Hamlet-Davis Township fire chief. Hazelton has already been leading the department for the past few months.
State Fire Marshal Fred Sumpter has officially ruled the cause of a structure fire that took place in Hamlet last week as undetermined.
Hamlet Fire Chief Brad Hazelton reported that on Friday, October 20th the Hamlet Fire Department received a call about a fire at a vacant structure located on West Railroad Street around 2 a.m. The fire was extinguished but the house was significantly damaged.
Chief Hazelton said that the State Fire Marshall conducted an investigation. Hazelton determined that it was too dangerous for the firefighters involved to enter the crawlspace under the house so the cause was established as undetermined.
Hazelton also reported that thanks to the use of their alarm system, Knox and Koontz Lake Firefighters we called out to assist with the incident. He said the departments often assist one another when they’re in need of more firefighters and to utilize equipment that one department may have access to that another does not. Continue reading
