(July 6, 2023) -- During Wednesday’s Sikeston City Council meeting, Zak Haskin, Sikeston fire marshal, gave a presentation on the use of Knox Boxes.

A Knox Box is a small, wall-mounted safe that holds building keys for fire departments to retrieve in emergency situations. Local fire departments hold master keys to all Knox Boxes in their response area, enabling them to quickly enter buildings in their area without having to force entry or find individual keys held in deposit at the station.

The Knox Box can also cut fire losses for building owners since firefighters can enter buildings without breaking doors or windows and reduce the potential of a firefighter being injured forcing entry.

The current requirement and procedure for the City of Sikeston is that new construction buildings, change of occupancy and major renovation buildings must have a Knox Box. However, Haskin said they do not stop the forward progress of a business from obtaining a license or operation because they do not have a Knox Box. This is for businesses only and it isn’t required for residential.

Interconnected buildings are a priority where stand alone buildings are given more leniency.

“If we were to go by the letter, everybody would have to have it, whether they were changing occupancy or building a new building,” Haskin said. “For sake of business progression, we have made it where we use discretion.”

He added that other places, like Cape Girardeau, don’t give you the option – it is required to get a business license.

“We have never stopped a business moving forward with getting their business license if they did not have the (Knox) Box,” Haskin said. “It is just a very strong recommendation.”

The boxes can be mounted several different ways with several options and Haskin said with things like strip malls, every door does not need to have one.

“If I can get several doors in one box that’s fine with us,” Haskin said. “We have the ability to mark that out on our preplans where they are at.”

The Knox Box has been beneficial for Sikeston. The Knox Box is used at Wendell Apartments, which is a locked facility that isn’t staffed 24/7. DPS often enters the building for life safety of the residents, false alarms, and actual fires. Without the Knox Box, residents at Wendell Apartments could lose their life, the apartments could burn down and DPS could have caused unnecessary damage to the building.

Sometimes if a fire starts in an adjoining building, an uninvolved business may need to be inspected for extension of the original fire. If there is no Knox Box, the unaffected business may suffer the loss of a door and building security, when the access to a key would have prevented that.

The minimum cost for the box is $487 plus tax and installation costs, which, on average by a contractor, is $350.

The keys to access them are strictly specific to the city and are nearly impossible to pick, break open or remove from a building without causing major damage.