Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.
By J.J. HUGGINS
Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts)
FITCHBURG, Mass. — City firefighters have portable radios, but say they can’t use them to communicate with each other when they most need to — inside a burning building.
If firefighters need to speak to one another, they have to radio the dispatcher at the central fire station downtown, who then relays the message to other firefighters on scene.
The department’s radio system is outdated and poses a safety hazard because it wastes time, fire officials said Thursday.
“We can be in the same building, three rooms apart, and not be able to talk to each other,” Capt. Brian F. Belliveau said.
Belliveau described a scenario wherein one fire crew finds people trapped in a burning building and has only a few moments to save them.
If the firefighters were not in shouting distance of each other, they would have to radio the dispatcher first. The dispatcher would then radio the other firefighters at the scene and tell them where in the building to go.
The process wouldn’t take long, but time is of the essence when lives are at stake, according to Belliveau.
“If it was critical information that was extremely time-sensitive, that time can be too long,” he said.
The department wants a communication system that will allow them to use their portable radios to speak directly to each other, as well as with police officers and firefighters from neighboring communities.
Each fire department vehicle has a radio, and firefighters carry portable radios on them. The system operates on three different band frequencies: high band, low band and UHF, Belliveau explained.
Fitchburg’s hilly terrain, combined with the fact that many of the buildings in the city are made of thick concrete, and the three different radio bands, inhibit the firefighters’ ability to speak clearly over the radio, Belliveau said.
The high and low bands are often full of static, so many police and fire departments use UHF bands all the time, Belliveau said.
Fitchburg and Leominster police, as well as the Leominster fire department, use the UHF band, according to Belliveau.
The department’s outdated radio equipment, some of which is approximately 35 years old, hasn’t caused any catastrophes yet, Chief Kevin D. Roy said.
But they want to upgrade it before something goes wrong.
“With the age of the equipment, we’re getting where we could have a meltdown,” Roy said.
Overhauling the system will be expensive.
The fire department applied for a federal grant to pay for the upgrades for two years in a row, and to their disappointment, they were shot down both times, Roy said.
“These communication failures and others that occur often throughout this city have firefighters very concerned about their safety, and upset their grant request for a new radio system went unanswered for a second consecutive year,” Roy and Belliveau said in a written statement given to the Sentinel & Enterprise during an interview at the fire station.
“Communications failures during fire emergencies have contributed to a number of firefighter deaths nationwide,” they said in the statement.
Belliveau wrote the grant proposal in 2005 asking for $518,000 from the Department of Homeland Security, which is giving out $650 million to fire departments nationwide through the Assistance for Firefighters Grant, according to Roy.
Roy acknowledged his department asked for a substantial sum, and said he’ll settle for less.
“We would be willing to take any amount of money so we could set a plan in motion to replace the system over the next few years,” he said.
Roy said he contacted Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, and Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Massachusetts, about the grant money.
Staff members from Olver’s and Kennedy’s office said both politicians wrote letters in support when the fire department applied for the money.
Olver’s press secretary, Nicole Letourneau, said it was unfortunate the grant is not going to Fitchburg.
“He [Olver] has been supportive and he continues to be supportive [of the fire department]. The problem is, it is a very competitive grant program,” Letourneau said.
The government is doling out $650 million, but received $2.5 billion worth of requests, she said.
She also noted the Department of Homeland Security gave the city $270,000 for a new truck in 2003.
Melissa Wagoner, a spokeswoman for Kennedy, said Kennedy is “following up with” the DHS about the money.
“We want to know why the funds were denied,” she said.
Roger Lau, Kerry’s Massachusetts press secretary, said the senator also supported the fire department’s efforts to get the money, and will help them find funding in the future.
“Sen. Kerry will do whatever it is we can do to help them,” Lau said.