The Bristol-Kendall Fire Protection District provided the following news release:

One of the top priorities in the Fire Service is the ability to have an immediate response to the scene of a request for emergency services. In the county portion of the Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District that is achieved by the district installing fire signs that allows the swift response to a county location.

With that in mind, Captain Jim McCarty proposed an idea to duplicate that ability with incidents that would occur on the Fox River, and the islands within the river. It is well known that should an incident occur on the Fox River that a significant delay may happen while firefighters and paramedics are trying to ascertain the location of the incident according to the callers description of the topography of their location.

With the installation of the Fire Signs the caller could be asked by the dispatcher to look on the riverbank for the posted Fire Sign and to relay the two to five digit number.

That information would be told to the Bristol Kendall Fire Department. The numbers would be utilized to pinpoint the location on the river from a map that is located in the response vehicles.

Captain Jim McCarty has been instrumental in problem solving scenarios unique to the challenges brought about by the Fox River and the citizens who utilize the recreational opportunities it brings.

Captain Jim McCarty has recently submitted, after 41 years, his resignation as an active member of the Bristol Kendall Fire Department. He will remain serving the Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District as a trustee.