HOPE — The Rev. Ed Cottrell has been on emergency runs both as a volunteer chaplain and firefighter in which first responders had to take at least five minutes to break down a door or entryway to get to someone inside.
His years in such work clearly tell him that those five minutes can mean the difference between life and death.
But he has found one simple tool can change all that: a key safe.
Cottrell, a chaplain and firefighter now with the Hope Volunteer Fire Department, just added such a cast-iron safe to the Hope United Methodist Church where he has pastored since 2017. Inside the safe is a key to allow emergency personnel quick entry — one without destroying doors or windows, which can mean big repair bills for home or business owners or overseers at houses of worship.
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“When you have to break in, you later have to replace the entire door and door frame,” Cottrell said.
In the case of the church’s ornate, oversized doors, that could be pricey.
The church represents the first structure in the small Bartholomew County town with an emergency key safe. Fire officials are encouraging every home and business owner to get one. Prices can be $200 to $250, not counting installation.
Chad Emmitt, Hope’s volunteer fire chief, mentioned that Cottrell is serving as a good ambassador of the safety devices.
“Any type of person like him — and I guess you’d call him a public figure — helps (the cause), especially considering that he’s a pastor with a lot of local influence,” Emmitt said. “And it helps that a visible, high-profile building such as a church is the first one with one of these.
A news outlet reported in 2013 that testers of one brand of safes somehow fashioned a key that allowed them to open one.
However, Mike Wilson said he’s never heard of such locally, and said there have been no reports that he’s aware of regarding break-ins. He’s the public information officer for the Columbus Fire Department. He’s seen plenty of the boxes around the city, from businesses to residences.
“From the perspective of my experience, they’re totally secure,” Wilson said.
Cottrell mentioned that his reasoning for installing the safe at the church is simple.
“I am responsible not only for the spiritual safety of the people (here at the church),” Cottrell said. “But I am also responsible for their physical safety. It would be irresponsible for me not to do something like this.”
His background as an emergency medical technician makes him seemingly a perfect candidate to promote such measures. He likes to tell the story of a man praying for God to rescue him amid rising flood waters. The man waves off a flotation device, a rescue boat and a helicopter because he tells the people reaching out that he’s waiting on God.
“I think that we sometimes forget that we can be someone’s answer to prayer,” he said.
