Williston Fire Dept. reducing response to non-emergency calls

WILLISTON, N.D. (KFYR) - The Williston Fire Department (WFD) is reducing the number of non-emergency calls it will respond to starting Oct. 1.

According to the department, it is responding to an increasing number of calls each year. To maintain an efficient response to critical service calls, the WFD is changing its response structure to better prioritize these responses.

Effective Oct. 1, 2025, the WFD will no longer respond to minor motor vehicle collisions on streets and highways, commonly referred to as “property accidents.”

Historically, the WFD responded to these incidents due to the limited information available at the time. However, thanks to improved call screening measures implemented by the Williams County Dispatch Center, there has been a significant reduction in the need for WFD services at these types of incidents.

The WFD will continue to respond to traffic reports of injuries or spills and to property accidents when requested by law enforcement.

WFD is also adjusting its response to calls originating from automatic fire alarms, which constitute the largest category of calls received. Often, these alarms are triggered accidentally or due to malfunctions.

While the WFD will continue to respond to and investigate fire alarm activations, the response from fire crews will be reduced to just one fire engine.

If someone is calling 911 about an alarm, the fire department asks that the caller be very detailed in their descriptions of what they are seeing or hearing.