Kirksville City Council rejected the Kirksville Fire Department’s “keybox” initiative at the city council meeting Wednesday.
The initiative would have required local businesses to provide the fire department with keys to their buildings for firefighters to investigate potentially dangerous situations.
Mayor Glen Moritz said he believes that the initiative could improve response times, but that businesses shouldn’t be asked to give keys to the fire department.
“They had a valid concern that, you know, hey, we see some smoke in your building, that may or may not be a fire you know, but we don’t want to tear down your door or window just to investigate it,” the Mayor said.
Moritz said businesses should be able to provide keys to the fire department on a voluntary basis since it could allow the department to avoid breaking down doors or windows to investigate emergency calls.
