Dispatching services for the Grand Island Fire Company date back to the Company's founding in 1938. At that time, special telephones were placed in homes around Grand Island which were answered by the wives of firemen. When an emergency call was received, the dispatcher would activate the utility pole mounted siren in her backyard and write the address on a chalkboard in front of the house. Firemen would drive by the home to see the location on the emergency. As technology improved, dispatcher had the ability to activate their phones in a manner which allowed firemen to call in and receive the information without having to drive by the nearest dispatcher's house.

In 1963, mobile radios and "home receivers" were used to alert the firemen. Telephone calls were answered by the Kenmore Fire Department and special radio signals ("tones") were transmitted that activated radio speakers in each firefighters house. In 1983, that duty was taken over by the City of Tonawanda Fire Department and in 1988, the Grand Island Fire Company established it own dispatching staff.

Today, the Grand Island Fire Company, Inc. operates the primary 9-1-1 answering point for the Town of Grand Island. This allows the community to exercise "home-rule" over their expanding emergency services and provides the locally controlled emergency services with direct dispatcher support.

What this means to the citizens who dials 9-1-1 on Grand Island is that they will have their call handled and routed by a trained professional, located in Grand Island and who is familiar with the area. Each of our 16 dispatchers is trained in according to national standards for Public Safety Dispatching, Advanced Emergency Medical Dispatching and Emergency Fire Dispatching. Each dispatcher has extensive Fire, EMS, Police or emergency communications experience.