[Scan-DC] York Co PA fire communication failure

[Howard W3CQH]

Hmmm! Sounds like both RACES & AIRES could step in and help - "HAM" radios 
don't seem to fail as much as these darn MULTI-MILLION commercial 
systems!!!!
73's
Howard W3CQH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan Henney" <alan at henney.com>
To: "Scan DC" <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 9:05 PM
Subject: [Scan-DC] York Co PA fire communication failure


>
> York Daily Record (Pennsylvania)
>
> Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
>
> April 17, 2009 Friday
>
> 911 investigates fire communication failure
>
> BYLINE: Mike Hoover, York Daily Record, Pa.
>
> SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS
>
> LENGTH: 946 words
>
>
> Apr. 17--An investigation is under way into why the county's new 911
> emergency communication system failed to alert some firefighters to a
> blaze that destroyed the home of a Dover Township woman and her six
> children late Wednesday night.
>
> Representatives from two York County fire companies said they were
> unaware of the initial call just before 11 p.m. because the county's
> new emergency paging system did not work.
>
> Firefighters had to find out through the old paging system, by
> listening to scanner traffic or by being contacted about the emergency
> by phone, which delayed their response to the call in the 3500 block
> of West Canal Road, they said.
>
> Eric Bistline, the executive director of York County Emergency
> Services, said he is baffled at
>
> Previous stories:
>
> --Fire companies want refund
>
> --911 lawsuit: Now vs. later
>
> --Chronister: 911 system also has 'user problem'
>
> --County signs on to await 911 fix
>
> --FOPs file complaint against 911 system
>
> --York County 911: Back to the past?
>
> --911 system has flaws, some responders say
>
> --Nov. 8, 2008: County 911 switches to digital
>
> --Feb. 28, 2008: Storm spurs action
>
> what happened.
>
> A preliminary investigation at the 911 center showed a text page went
> out to fire companies Wednesday night, but Bistline later learned from
> firefighters Thursday morning that they never got the message.
>
> "It is very puzzling," Bistline said.
>
> Communication and radio technicians are checking operations at the 911
> center and several transmission sites designed to send the page, he
> said.
>
> "Nothing is infallible. I wish I could say it was," Bistline said.
> "This stuff is wireless technology. It is not 100 percent. Things will
> go wrong, but they will go wrong a lot less with the new system."
>
> As he inspected the damage today, Dover Township Fire Chief Wayne
> Latchaw -- the incident commander -- said he did not believe the
> communication snafu hampered firefighting efforts. He said he believed
> had enough manpower and equipment to fight the fire, which was knocked
> down in 20 minutes.
>
> Dover Township was one of the few companies that received a text page
> sent with the new radio system and was out of the station within a
> minute, Latchaw said. About 15 minutes into the fire, he said, he
> began to hear some firefighters complaining about problems with the
> pagers.
>
> While concerned, Latchaw said he kept his focus on firefighting
> efforts. He said firefighters were fortunate this time because the
> malfunction didn't make a difference with the fire. But he said he is
> concerned about the next time, when a few minutes may mean the
> difference between life and death.
>
> "That's a big concern," he said.
>
> Increasingly, the county has been under pressure by police, fire and
> other emergency service providers to fix the problems with the new,
> $36 million 911 radio system.
>
> Workers from system manufacturer M/A-COM and parent company Tyco
> Electronics have been working out glitches, Bistline said. The known
> glitches include lost or garbled transmissions.
>
> Some of the county fire departments are using the old, analog system,
> while others such as Dover
>
> Township rely completely on the new text paging system.
>
> County Commissioner Doug Hoke said the public has the right to demand
> accountability.
>
> "If there was a breakdown of the system and it had an effect on
> emergency response times, I certainly want to know what happened and
> what is being done to correct this," Hoke said. "People rely on this
> system. The county has a responsibility to make sure it is working
> properly."
>
> West Manchester Township Fire Chief David Nichols said there was a
> three-minute delay in notifying his department's firefighters of the
> call. He said the new text paging system did not go off at all, and he
> had to rely on his old pager.
>
> "This wasn't the first time we had a problem with an alert," Nichols
> said.
>
> Joe Stevens, fire chief at the Union Fire Co. in Manchester, said he
> was "angry" and "disgusted" that the new pagers did not go off. He
> said firefighters were unaware they were needed to help at the call in
> Dover Township until someone overheard some scanner traffic.
>
> The on-duty supervisor had to call firefighters on their cell phones
> to make sure there was enough manpower to send a crew, Stevens said. A
> crew with just four firefighters went out the door when, Stevens said,
> he would have been more comfortable with six.
>
> Stevens said he will tell his firefighters to carry both pagers from
> the old and new alert system until the problems can be worked out. He
> said he is also considering activating the old 1940s siren atop the
> fire hall to send an air-raid-like blast to get firefighters to
> respond.
>
> "I have to rely on 1940s technology and my big old fire siren to get
> my guys out of bed. Something is wrong there," Stevens said.
>
> "The whole system is hanging by a threat because the new pagers didn't
> work. This is suppose to be the best thing since sliced bread. We keep
> hearing that. But it is not working to its full potential."
>
> THE FIRE
>
> Carol Cousins and her six children have been displaced and are staying
> with relatives after the fire at their home in Dover Township.
>
> The fire caused an estimated $200,000 in damage, Dover Township Fire
> Chief Wayne Latchaw said.
>
> The state police fire marshal has been asked to help establish a
> cause, Latchaw said, but the fire is not believed to be suspicious.
>
> To see more of the York Daily Record, or to subscribe to the
> newspaper, go to http://www.ydr.com. Copyright (c) 2009, York Daily
> Record, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
> reprints, email tmsreprints at permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
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>
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