Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Forest Service crew remembered
[Source: Associated Press]
Thousands salute four killed fighting fire
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- The four Forest Service firefighters killed in the Thirty Mile Fire in the northern Cascades were remembered Tuesday as fallen heroes who died doing a noble and fierce job.
Tom Craven, 30, of Ellensburg and Devin Weaver, 21, Jessica Johnson, 19, and Karen FitzPatrick, 18, all of Yakima, were part of a firefighting crew from the Naches Ranger District.
"Our state's incredible natural beauty nourishes our souls, but sometimes with unexpected swiftness it breaks our hearts," Gov. Gary Locke said.
They were young people who celebrated the outdoors with a spirit of adventure and a sense of awe, he said.
"They were, in the very best sense of the word, Westerners -- men and women who search and dream," Locke said.
More than 5,000 people, most of them firefighters, police officers and federal employees, filled the Yakima Valley SunDome for the 21/2-hour memorial service.
The image of a brilliant sunset, projected onto a screen, served as a backdrop for the stage, which was covered with trees, logs and greens. Four firefighters' uniforms and gear were neatly stacked in front of photographs of Craven, Weaver, Johnson and FitzPatrick.
They died July 10 when a 25-acre fire in the Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests blew up and trapped them in the Chewuch River canyon. The Thirty Mile Fire had grown to 9,300 acres by the time it was fully contained Monday.
"These four young firefighters faced unimaginable terror with unparalleled courage," said Bonnie Bunning, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources.
"Our partners, our compatriots have tragically been taken from us."
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Interior Secretary Gale Norton also attended the memorial service.
"Firefighters ... do a noble and fierce job that requires incredible strength and courage," said Veneman, whose agency oversees the Forest Service. "Those brave men and women have each left an impression. They are heroes and will be sorely missed."
Dave Leitch, a chief at the West Valley Fire Department, where Johnson had once been a firefighting cadet, spoke of the shock when a friend and fellow firefighter dies on the job.
"We understand the risk that the task has, but we find it hard to believe it happened," he said.
An investigation into the circumstances of the deaths is under way by a national team.
"We must seek the truth, not to lay blame, but to learn," Leitch said. "The fire gave a test before it gave a lesson."
The families of the firefighters were presented with state flags and silver pulaskis, modified firefighting axes, during the memorial service.
And a fire dispatcher played the last alarm -- a series of pager tones used to call firefighters in Yakima County -- before bidding Craven, Weaver, Johnson and FitzPatrick farewell: "Your assignment is complete. May you rest in peace."
[Source: Associated Press]
Thousands salute four killed fighting fire
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- The four Forest Service firefighters killed in the Thirty Mile Fire in the northern Cascades were remembered Tuesday as fallen heroes who died doing a noble and fierce job.
Tom Craven, 30, of Ellensburg and Devin Weaver, 21, Jessica Johnson, 19, and Karen FitzPatrick, 18, all of Yakima, were part of a firefighting crew from the Naches Ranger District.
"Our state's incredible natural beauty nourishes our souls, but sometimes with unexpected swiftness it breaks our hearts," Gov. Gary Locke said.
They were young people who celebrated the outdoors with a spirit of adventure and a sense of awe, he said.
"They were, in the very best sense of the word, Westerners -- men and women who search and dream," Locke said.
More than 5,000 people, most of them firefighters, police officers and federal employees, filled the Yakima Valley SunDome for the 21/2-hour memorial service.
The image of a brilliant sunset, projected onto a screen, served as a backdrop for the stage, which was covered with trees, logs and greens. Four firefighters' uniforms and gear were neatly stacked in front of photographs of Craven, Weaver, Johnson and FitzPatrick.
They died July 10 when a 25-acre fire in the Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests blew up and trapped them in the Chewuch River canyon. The Thirty Mile Fire had grown to 9,300 acres by the time it was fully contained Monday.
"These four young firefighters faced unimaginable terror with unparalleled courage," said Bonnie Bunning, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources.
"Our partners, our compatriots have tragically been taken from us."
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Interior Secretary Gale Norton also attended the memorial service.
"Firefighters ... do a noble and fierce job that requires incredible strength and courage," said Veneman, whose agency oversees the Forest Service. "Those brave men and women have each left an impression. They are heroes and will be sorely missed."
Dave Leitch, a chief at the West Valley Fire Department, where Johnson had once been a firefighting cadet, spoke of the shock when a friend and fellow firefighter dies on the job.
"We understand the risk that the task has, but we find it hard to believe it happened," he said.
An investigation into the circumstances of the deaths is under way by a national team.
"We must seek the truth, not to lay blame, but to learn," Leitch said. "The fire gave a test before it gave a lesson."
The families of the firefighters were presented with state flags and silver pulaskis, modified firefighting axes, during the memorial service.
And a fire dispatcher played the last alarm -- a series of pager tones used to call firefighters in Yakima County -- before bidding Craven, Weaver, Johnson and FitzPatrick farewell: "Your assignment is complete. May you rest in peace."
Sunday, July 22, 2001
Thursday, July 19, 2001
Parker County, Texas works to end radio problems
[Source: Star-Telegram]
By Gale M. Bradford
Special to the Star-Telegram
WEATHERFORD -- There are dead spots in Parker County -- areas in the 900 square miles of varied terrain where sheriff's deputies, firefighters and other emergency personnel cannot communicate with the dispatcher or one another.
Those dead spots could kill you, said Deputy Randy Branum, who has been in at least two life- threatening situations in two years because he couldn't raise help on his radio.
To complicate matters, dispatchers have separate pieces of equipment and microphones to communicate with different county agencies, including firefighters, sheriff's deputies and constables.
County officials agree that an updated and expanded dispatcher system is the answer to a problem that endangers the lives of public servants and residents. Officials thought they had resolved at least some of the problems in September when county commissioners purchased a system to consolidate dispatcher equipment. And county commissioners budgeted $500,000 this year to install more antennas and another communication tower to help eliminate the dead spots.
However, the new dispatcher system hasn't been installed, and most of the $500,000 hasn't been spent. Initially, Parker County commissioners and the sheriff argued about who should operate the dispatcher system. And, last week, Texas Rangers seized the equipment, accusing a vendor of misrepresenting what the equipment can do. For example, according to the affidavit submitted by the Rangers to get a search warrant, the two consoles are supposed to provide 18 channels each, but can only accommodate up to 12.
Two months ago, commissioners advertised for bids to add another tower and antennas, but no bids were submitted. Now the county is following a recommendation to hire a consultant to draw up better specifications for the project, further delaying it.
Emergency personnel say they are frustrated and in peril.
"It's just hit or miss," Branum said of the county's communication system. "You never know if your radios will work. We make jokes about smoke signals being more effective."
During a routine traffic stop in 1999, Branum said, he called the dispatcher but couldn't raise a response. Branum said he walked up to the truck anyway, and the driver sped off.
"The truck fishtailed and slid sideways and knocked me into the highway," he said. "I got up and was in pursuit of him for at least five miles."
When the pickup pulled into a driveway, several people surrounded Branum's patrol car. He said he pulled his gun, arrested the pickup driver and took him to jail. "And the dispatcher never even knew that I'd made a traffic stop," Branum said. "That's how bad the communication system is."
In the summer of 2000, Branum said, an intoxicated man fought when the deputy tried to handcuff him. Branum said he tussled with the man unassisted for 20 minutes before he received help.
"Every few minutes, when I could get him pinned down good enough, I'd grab my radio, hold it high for better elevation, and yell for help, but dispatch still didn't hear," Branum said.
A Parker County constable traveling about three miles away heard Branum's distress call and responded, he said.
Last year, Parker County commissioners appropriated $53,000 to purchase dispatcher equipment but decided that the county administration, not the sheriff, should operate the system. Brown disagreed.
This year, the Commissioners Court changed directions and decided to leave the dispatching duties to the sheriff. When workers began installation, however, they discovered that they had the wrong equipment. Desperate, Brown said he was willing to work with that.
Acting on tips that the system didn't meet specifications, the Texas Rangers seized the equipment last week and began a criminal investigation of the vendor, Communication Sales and Service. Named in the warrant is Charles Beard, who operates the company.
Beard's daughter-in-law, Melinda, told commissioners Monday that the 50-year-old Weatherford business engaged in no deceptive practices. She accused elected officials of spending tax money on a "witch hunt and character assassination for personal gain."
The company supplies much of the county's communications equipment, from personal pagers to police radios. The company also contracts to maintain the equipment.
Communication Sales has been called in several times to modify the equipment to get rid of the dead spots. In the past year, Charles Beard has told county commissioners that the dead spots have been eliminated, but county emergency personnel say something different.
County Judge Mark Riley said in a recent interview, "I have personally ridden with sheriff's deputies to the northeast part of the county, and they have taken me to the dead spots where they cannot communicate. And, it's not just one or two spots. ... We've been told that they don't exist anymore, and that's just not true."
County workers improvise when their equipment fails them. Deputy Tim Oglesby said that during a six- or seven-minute fight with a suspect, he lost his gun and couldn't raise help over the radio.
"It got to the point I just hit him with [the radio] just as hard as I could, and it worked better as a weapon than it did as a radio," Oglesby said.
Fire Chief George Teague said firefighters often carry personal cellphones because they can't be sure that their radios will work.
Parker County agencies are a major part of the area's disaster response plan, but cities can't always be sure that they can contact the Sheriff's Department and other emergency personnel, Teague said.
"If we had a disaster, there's not a channel that Parker County could go to to talk to each other -- and talk clearly so we could understand each other," he said. "That's a necessity."
[Source: Star-Telegram]
By Gale M. Bradford
Special to the Star-Telegram
WEATHERFORD -- There are dead spots in Parker County -- areas in the 900 square miles of varied terrain where sheriff's deputies, firefighters and other emergency personnel cannot communicate with the dispatcher or one another.
Those dead spots could kill you, said Deputy Randy Branum, who has been in at least two life- threatening situations in two years because he couldn't raise help on his radio.
To complicate matters, dispatchers have separate pieces of equipment and microphones to communicate with different county agencies, including firefighters, sheriff's deputies and constables.
County officials agree that an updated and expanded dispatcher system is the answer to a problem that endangers the lives of public servants and residents. Officials thought they had resolved at least some of the problems in September when county commissioners purchased a system to consolidate dispatcher equipment. And county commissioners budgeted $500,000 this year to install more antennas and another communication tower to help eliminate the dead spots.
However, the new dispatcher system hasn't been installed, and most of the $500,000 hasn't been spent. Initially, Parker County commissioners and the sheriff argued about who should operate the dispatcher system. And, last week, Texas Rangers seized the equipment, accusing a vendor of misrepresenting what the equipment can do. For example, according to the affidavit submitted by the Rangers to get a search warrant, the two consoles are supposed to provide 18 channels each, but can only accommodate up to 12.
Two months ago, commissioners advertised for bids to add another tower and antennas, but no bids were submitted. Now the county is following a recommendation to hire a consultant to draw up better specifications for the project, further delaying it.
Emergency personnel say they are frustrated and in peril.
"It's just hit or miss," Branum said of the county's communication system. "You never know if your radios will work. We make jokes about smoke signals being more effective."
During a routine traffic stop in 1999, Branum said, he called the dispatcher but couldn't raise a response. Branum said he walked up to the truck anyway, and the driver sped off.
"The truck fishtailed and slid sideways and knocked me into the highway," he said. "I got up and was in pursuit of him for at least five miles."
When the pickup pulled into a driveway, several people surrounded Branum's patrol car. He said he pulled his gun, arrested the pickup driver and took him to jail. "And the dispatcher never even knew that I'd made a traffic stop," Branum said. "That's how bad the communication system is."
In the summer of 2000, Branum said, an intoxicated man fought when the deputy tried to handcuff him. Branum said he tussled with the man unassisted for 20 minutes before he received help.
"Every few minutes, when I could get him pinned down good enough, I'd grab my radio, hold it high for better elevation, and yell for help, but dispatch still didn't hear," Branum said.
A Parker County constable traveling about three miles away heard Branum's distress call and responded, he said.
Last year, Parker County commissioners appropriated $53,000 to purchase dispatcher equipment but decided that the county administration, not the sheriff, should operate the system. Brown disagreed.
This year, the Commissioners Court changed directions and decided to leave the dispatching duties to the sheriff. When workers began installation, however, they discovered that they had the wrong equipment. Desperate, Brown said he was willing to work with that.
Acting on tips that the system didn't meet specifications, the Texas Rangers seized the equipment last week and began a criminal investigation of the vendor, Communication Sales and Service. Named in the warrant is Charles Beard, who operates the company.
Beard's daughter-in-law, Melinda, told commissioners Monday that the 50-year-old Weatherford business engaged in no deceptive practices. She accused elected officials of spending tax money on a "witch hunt and character assassination for personal gain."
The company supplies much of the county's communications equipment, from personal pagers to police radios. The company also contracts to maintain the equipment.
Communication Sales has been called in several times to modify the equipment to get rid of the dead spots. In the past year, Charles Beard has told county commissioners that the dead spots have been eliminated, but county emergency personnel say something different.
County Judge Mark Riley said in a recent interview, "I have personally ridden with sheriff's deputies to the northeast part of the county, and they have taken me to the dead spots where they cannot communicate. And, it's not just one or two spots. ... We've been told that they don't exist anymore, and that's just not true."
County workers improvise when their equipment fails them. Deputy Tim Oglesby said that during a six- or seven-minute fight with a suspect, he lost his gun and couldn't raise help over the radio.
"It got to the point I just hit him with [the radio] just as hard as I could, and it worked better as a weapon than it did as a radio," Oglesby said.
Fire Chief George Teague said firefighters often carry personal cellphones because they can't be sure that their radios will work.
Parker County agencies are a major part of the area's disaster response plan, but cities can't always be sure that they can contact the Sheriff's Department and other emergency personnel, Teague said.
"If we had a disaster, there's not a channel that Parker County could go to to talk to each other -- and talk clearly so we could understand each other," he said. "That's a necessity."
Tuesday, July 17, 2001
City's $78M upgrade paves way to interagency talk
[Source: Arizona Daily Star]
Public-safety communication
By M. Scot Skinner
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Dispatcher Deanna Jack works multiple
computer monitors as she routes Tucson
police officers to calls from across the city.
A federal program that studies how public-safety agencies communicate
with each other rates Arizona and 27 other states as "developing," but
Tucson is actually ahead of the curve, a city technology official and
a national expert agreed.
That's because Tucson is planning a $78 million upgrade of its
communication systems and facilities that should be fully operational
within five years.
One goal is seamless radio communication between Tucson public-safety
agencies and neighboring agencies. This becomes important in major
situations or vehicle pursuits that go in and out of jurisdictions,
authorities said.
While it's too early to say whether agencies such as the Pima County
Sheriff's Department will sign on as partners in communication
efforts, the upgrade is being approached with the inter-agency ability
in mind, said Jim Perry, the city's administrator for technical
planning and research.
Currently, public-safety agencies in the Tucson area cannot
effectively communicate with each other because of the different radio
systems and frequencies they each use. Personnel in the field needing
to contact another agency must ask dispatchers to call the other
agency and relay information.
A new "report card" by the Public Safety Wireless Network categorizes
each of the 50 states as either Mature, Established, Developing or
New. The 4-year-old public-safety program, which works with agencies
at all levels of government to improve radio communication between
agencies, is a joint project of the Departments of Justice and the
Treasury.
Only Michigan and Delaware are rated as Mature, meaning they have
achieved the ability for agencies to communicate with each other on a
statewide basis. Using common standards, the system allows officers
and paramedics to communicate via radio with other jurisdictions.
The widespread inability of agencies to efficiently communicate with
each other was highlighted during the 1995 bombing of the federal
building in Oklahoma City, Perry said.
More than 100 runners were used to relay messages between agencies, a
method described by Perry as "Civil War" technology. "That really
opened people's eyes and was a catalyst to getting these studies
moving,'' he said.
"This is really a nationwide problem,'' said Rick Murphy, the
co-program manager of the Public Safety Wireless Network. "But Tucson
is definitely ahead of the game in terms of planning and
preparation.''
Even though they're limited in how they communicate with each other,
Tucson-area public-safety agencies have the ability to turn on a
signal repeater called "tri-band."
The tri-band allows for the limited connection of the different VHF,
UHF and 800megahertz bands that are used by public-safety agencies.
Perry said the tri-band is a stopgap measure that has to be turned on
at a communications center and then officers in the field must turn to
that frequency.
Tucson's analog communication system has parts that are hitting the
20-year mark, Perry said. It's becoming increasingly difficult to buy
parts for it, and when it breaks down, it must be repaired immediately
by city employees.
The importance, after all, can scarcely be overstated, Perry said.
"We're not talking about a taxicab communication system,'' he said.
"This is a lifeline.''
Lt. Mike Sacco, in charge of technical support for the Sheriff's
Department, said the county bought a communication system in 1999,
replacing a 10-year-oldsystem that was not Y2K-compliant.
"The problem is that because of proprietary technology, you buy a
system and it's not compatible with other systems,'' he said.
When the county bought the new system, officials intended to use it
for many years, Sacco said. That could complicate efforts to join with
Tucson's upgraded, digital system. "The stumbling blocks are the cost
and timing,'' he said.
The state leaders in terms of communicating with each other are
Phoenix and Mesa, which will begin operating on common frequencies by
the end of 2002,Sacco said.
The Tucson upgrade will include a new communications facility and
"whatever it takes to move information through the city, such as
microwave and fiber-optics hardware, plus the transmitters and
receivers,'' Perry said.
In addition to the Fire and Police departments, the system will
integrate communication with other city departments, including
solid-waste management, water and transportation.
[Source: Arizona Daily Star]
Public-safety communication
By M. Scot Skinner
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Dispatcher Deanna Jack works multiple
computer monitors as she routes Tucson
police officers to calls from across the city.
A federal program that studies how public-safety agencies communicate
with each other rates Arizona and 27 other states as "developing," but
Tucson is actually ahead of the curve, a city technology official and
a national expert agreed.
That's because Tucson is planning a $78 million upgrade of its
communication systems and facilities that should be fully operational
within five years.
One goal is seamless radio communication between Tucson public-safety
agencies and neighboring agencies. This becomes important in major
situations or vehicle pursuits that go in and out of jurisdictions,
authorities said.
While it's too early to say whether agencies such as the Pima County
Sheriff's Department will sign on as partners in communication
efforts, the upgrade is being approached with the inter-agency ability
in mind, said Jim Perry, the city's administrator for technical
planning and research.
Currently, public-safety agencies in the Tucson area cannot
effectively communicate with each other because of the different radio
systems and frequencies they each use. Personnel in the field needing
to contact another agency must ask dispatchers to call the other
agency and relay information.
A new "report card" by the Public Safety Wireless Network categorizes
each of the 50 states as either Mature, Established, Developing or
New. The 4-year-old public-safety program, which works with agencies
at all levels of government to improve radio communication between
agencies, is a joint project of the Departments of Justice and the
Treasury.
Only Michigan and Delaware are rated as Mature, meaning they have
achieved the ability for agencies to communicate with each other on a
statewide basis. Using common standards, the system allows officers
and paramedics to communicate via radio with other jurisdictions.
The widespread inability of agencies to efficiently communicate with
each other was highlighted during the 1995 bombing of the federal
building in Oklahoma City, Perry said.
More than 100 runners were used to relay messages between agencies, a
method described by Perry as "Civil War" technology. "That really
opened people's eyes and was a catalyst to getting these studies
moving,'' he said.
"This is really a nationwide problem,'' said Rick Murphy, the
co-program manager of the Public Safety Wireless Network. "But Tucson
is definitely ahead of the game in terms of planning and
preparation.''
Even though they're limited in how they communicate with each other,
Tucson-area public-safety agencies have the ability to turn on a
signal repeater called "tri-band."
The tri-band allows for the limited connection of the different VHF,
UHF and 800megahertz bands that are used by public-safety agencies.
Perry said the tri-band is a stopgap measure that has to be turned on
at a communications center and then officers in the field must turn to
that frequency.
Tucson's analog communication system has parts that are hitting the
20-year mark, Perry said. It's becoming increasingly difficult to buy
parts for it, and when it breaks down, it must be repaired immediately
by city employees.
The importance, after all, can scarcely be overstated, Perry said.
"We're not talking about a taxicab communication system,'' he said.
"This is a lifeline.''
Lt. Mike Sacco, in charge of technical support for the Sheriff's
Department, said the county bought a communication system in 1999,
replacing a 10-year-oldsystem that was not Y2K-compliant.
"The problem is that because of proprietary technology, you buy a
system and it's not compatible with other systems,'' he said.
When the county bought the new system, officials intended to use it
for many years, Sacco said. That could complicate efforts to join with
Tucson's upgraded, digital system. "The stumbling blocks are the cost
and timing,'' he said.
The state leaders in terms of communicating with each other are
Phoenix and Mesa, which will begin operating on common frequencies by
the end of 2002,Sacco said.
The Tucson upgrade will include a new communications facility and
"whatever it takes to move information through the city, such as
microwave and fiber-optics hardware, plus the transmitters and
receivers,'' Perry said.
In addition to the Fire and Police departments, the system will
integrate communication with other city departments, including
solid-waste management, water and transportation.
Sunday, July 08, 2001
Tuesday, July 03, 2001
NEW! Quick Programming Software for the Uniden Scanners
This is a quick programmer for the Uniden scanners. You can use any Excel spreadsheet and soon any dBase or Comma Delimited Text file. You can program all 300 channels in about 10 seconds or less.
See the Software section for more details.
This is a quick programmer for the Uniden scanners. You can use any Excel spreadsheet and soon any dBase or Comma Delimited Text file. You can program all 300 channels in about 10 seconds or less.
See the Software section for more details.