INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — When a massive fire broke out on the southwest side Monday, Twitter users had only to look to Wayne Township Fire Department for up-to-the minute information.
Captain Mike Pruitt posted updates and photos, and even did two livestreams via Twitter’s Periscope, from the scene while more than 50 firefighters and support staff battled the fire at the former Hoosier Wood Preservatives building.
Pruitt said Wayne Township joined social media early on as a means of reaching tech-savvy west side residents, as well as the news media.
“When a major incident happens, immediately, as any public information officer will tell you, their phone starts blowing up, because every news desk wants to know what’s going on,” Pruitt said. “And, trust me, we want to get them that information. We want it to be accurate. So what we tend to do is, if we’re using a platform like Twitter, we’re almost using it like a press release — our initial press release. So now we’re putting out facts that they know are coming from our agency. Then we follow that up with the more traditional press release.”
While most, if not all, police and fire departments in the Indianapolis area use Facebook and Twitter, Wayne Township may be the first to use Periscope to give live video updates from a scene.
“Information travels so fast,” Pruitt said. “If we don’t get out ahead of it as a public safety agency when we have an incident that happens, then the speculation begins and misinformation begins. And that causes a lot of problems, because then as a public safety agency we’re playing catchup, the news media is left out to hang to try to figure out what’s going on, the general public … some would argue that maybe the public doesn’t always have to know everything. Well, there are some things that go on in our business that do involve the general public, and they do need to know that information, because things can really get out of control fast with speculations and rumors.
“I may not be putting anything out on a large fire on the west side, but somebody who lives next door is putting something out, and it may not be the correct information,” Pruitt said. “There may be a reason why we’re not putting a fire out as fast as they would like it. Maybe it’s some other danger involved.”
Republished with permission from The Indy Channel