Chappaqua Fire Department recommends “Knox Box” to help protect your home

October 31, 2008
by Christine Yeres

Did you ever wonder if there was a way you could make a key to your home available so that, in the event of an emergency, the Chappaqua Fire Department could enter your house without knocking down or removing a door or window?

Well, there is just such an system that Chappaqua Fire Chief Russell Maitland is recommending to commercial property owners as well as residential owners.

The system is called the “Knox Box” (as in the super-secure “Fort Knox”). With this system, a tamperproof key box is mounted to a residence, which contains the key or keys necessary to gain entry in case of a fire or fire alarm activation. The key box can only be accessed by the four fire chiefs of the Chappaqua Fire Department, and the key to the key box is kept in the Fire Chief’s car. The key can only be released by Westchester County Department of Emergency Services, who dispatches the Chappaqua Fire Department to a residence in case of an emergency or fire alarm activation.  Each time a key to the key box is released or returned, that action is logged by the Westchester Emergency Services dispatcher as well as the key retention unit in the chief’s car. “The fact that there is an electronic log maintained at two separate locations provides an added element of security,” explained Chief Maitland.

For most property owners Chief Maitland recommends the Knox Box 3200 Series, a hinged door box that can be purchased with or without a tamper switch that can be hooked into a residential alarm system. The cost is approximately $300. A homeowner with multiple buildings in close proximity would not require multiple boxes; that homeowner can purchase a larger box and secure it to the central property. These Knox boxes can be either surface mounted or recessed into an exterior wall.

If ordered online, the Chappaqua Fire Department will receive an email confirming the purchase. The fire department will come to the residence to assist in the proper placement of the box on the residence. 

“Every minute counts when combating a fire,” said Maitland. “We will not risk injury to firefighters, and further damage to property, by standing by and waiting for someone to arrive with a key.  Speed of action is paramount.”

Currently the Chappaqua Central School District, Chappaqua Library, Children’s Aid Society / Wagon Road Camp and Old Farm Lake Condo Complex are participants in the Knox box program. 

For information on the Knox Box, go to their website, www.knoxbox.com, or call them at 800-552-5669.  For additional information, e-mail Chief Russell Maitland at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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