OUR SUNDAY MORNING ROUtine was suddenly disrupted by the station alert: “Report of smoke from the bank.” A still alarm of one engine, one truck, one ambulance, and one mutual-aid automatic response engine was dispatched. En route, the 911 dispatcher advised that the caller was at the location and reported smoke from the night deposit box. On arrival, nothing was showing. We walked up to a lady who was signaling us. As we approached, there was a faint smell of smoke. When we opened the door for the night depository, a light smoke wafted out.
Many night depositories are designed so that a flat envelope can be inserted into a narrow opening in the box (photo 1). Business customers requiring larger bags for deposits usually are issued a security key, which allows the deposit box to open fully (photo 2). Once a deposit bag is placed into the drop box and the door is closed, the mechanism activates. Only then is the deposit dropped into the bank’s secured vault (photo 3). The problem is that at no time is there direct access from the outside into the secured area of the vault. Dispatch notified a key holder for the bank, who was on his way. Unfortunately, unlocking the vault necessitates the actions of two people. We did not know how long it would take to open the vault. Knowing that something was burning, we had to decide on a course of action.
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