The city's head firefighter invoked a downtown statue known as "Homeless Jesus" in an appeal to reduce the number of emergency calls that turn out to be false alarms. In his 2017 Fargo Fire Department annual report to city commissioners, Fire Chief Steve Dirksen said dispatchers still get 911 calls from people who think the statue is a real person curled up on a bench who may need help. Those calls are more frequent during cold winter months. "One time, we went two or three times in one day," Dirksen said Monday, referring to crews that were sent to the scene. The bronze statue rests near the main entrance to First Lutheran Church at 619 Broadway N. It's been in place since June 2016.
The Rev. Laurie Neill of First Lutheran said placement of the statue outside the church was deliberate, so that parishioners and others would ask themselves whether "Homeless Jesus" would be welcome in a beautiful brick sanctuary.