Oradell Fire Chief Introduces Knox Box Ordinance

Could a Knox Box prevent further damage to a building during a fire?The Oradell Fire Deparment believes so.

The Knox Box, as explained by FD Lieutenant Joseph Gothelf, is a box that can contain keys or alarm codes that go on the outside of the building. Should a fire break out, the fire department could open the box, and remove the keys and alarm codes to enter locked buildings in case of an emergency, without having to damage doors or windows.

At the Tuesday, Aug. 9 Oradell Governing Council meeting, the Oradell Fire Department encouraged the council to pass an ordinance to require buildings in town to be equipped with a Knox Box.

“[Over a 12-month period] what we’re looking to do here is…have the businesses in town be required to install the Knox Box on the buildings. Then what we’ll do is hopefully enhance our operations and reduce the damage that we have to do sometimes to force entry into a building,” said Oradell Fire Chief Derek Kahill.

Gothelf said last year the fire department answered “a couple of calls in the middle of the night where our only choice was to force entry in to the building.”

“That’s when we sort of came up with this idea that maybe we can look at these boxes being acquired for those that don’t yet have it,” said Gothelf.

Councilman Michael Harte seemed to be in favor of the idea. “It makes sense, I mean to gain access and not do damage that would have to be repaired,” said Harte.

Gothelf explained that the ordinance refers to placing Knox Boxes at both commercial buildings and any other buildings that are occupied overnight without 24-hour maintenance or security. The ordinance would also call for multi-family dwellings, such as the apartment buildings in town, so that the fire department could gain access to the exterior doors of the buildings.

The Knox Boxes would be mounted directly on the buildings. Some locations that already have them installed are River Dell High School, Bergen Catholic, and St. Joseph’s. Gothelf said that there are currently about 30 building in Oradell equipped with Knox Boxes.

“These boxes are specific to Oradell,” he said, “so if River Edge came here with their key, it would not open these boxes.”

Council President Joseph Murray Jr. said that the ordinance will be introduced at a public meeting in two weeks.