[KYHAM] Hurricane radio story

[Paulahkolik at aol.com]

Ron, et al.
 
 
The cities of Reno & Sparks, NV went through something similar to this.  
During the "Great Reno Flood" the Reno Fire Department decided to commandeer  
(read, hijack) pumps as they were being brought into the city.
 
A good number of these pumps were being ordered by Nevada Bell, mainly  
because the main (telco) trunk lines for the entire area (not just Reno) are in  a 
room in an office building downtown, in you guessed it, a basement.
 
Because of a lack of communication caused primarily by Reno's repeater  
system failing, the Fire Department nearly caused the loss of some 80,000 phone  
lines servicing the area.
 
Guess what saved the day? Ham Radio. I was manning a phone in the  
City/County EOC for RACES, when I just happened to catch a transmission from a  local 
Ham "co-op" repeater. It was a Nevada Bell employee raising Cain about the  Fire 
Department grabbing all the water pumps in the area.
 
I immediately grabbed the Reno fire chief and relayed the message. The  Chief 
called his Battalion Chiefs (via Ham Radio of course) and told them to  stop 
commandeering pumps bound for Nevada Bell.
 
Naturally, the Reno Gazette-Journal failed to mention this during an  article 
on the incident.
 
 
This goes to show you what happens when a couple of Hams are in the right  
place at the right time :-)
 
 
Paul W5PDA/4