Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Oregon Begins Talks on Linking Communications for Emergency Responders

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Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 10:39:47 -0500

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November 15, 2002
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Oregon Begins Talks on Linking Communications for Emergency Responders

Nov 13, 2002 (The Oregonian - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX)
-- Firefighters scaling the stairs of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 didn't
hear a police warning that the north tower was about to collapse.

Less than a half-hour later, more than 100 firefighters died when the tower
crumbled.

New York City's police officers and firefighters used different types of radios
that prevented them from communicating with each other.

The communications failures during last year's terrorist attacks spurred
officials across the United States to begin building multimillion-dollar systems
that allow emergency responders from neighboring cities and states to
communicate among one another.

In Oregon, a 12-member committee of state and public safety leaders will meet
for the first time today to begin figuring out how to connect radios used by
police officers, firefighters, the FBI, road crews, foresters and others from
Astoria to Ontario to Coos Bay.

Without connected networks, firefighters often are forced to use cell phones,
human relays or dispatchers to talk with peers fighting the same blaze.

The cost and duration of Oregon's project has yet to be decided, said Jeff
Johnson, committee chairman and fire chief at Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue in
Aloha. But two things are certain: It won't be cheap, and it won't be fast.

Michigan, for example, is finishing a statewide radio system after spending 15
years and $200 million. Across the country, 17 states, including Oregon and
Washington, are working with the federal government to build similar radio
networks, officials said.

If they can squeeze money from the Legislature or Congress, Oregon officials say
the network will pay off.

"This could be one of the most significant changes in how we deliver public
safety services since we put in 9-1-1 centers," said Maj. Jim Willis of the
Oregon State Police. "I think this is that significant."

Oregon's incompatible systems, which are similar to what plagued New York City
rescue workers, are analogous to Windows and Macintosh computer operating
systems.

Police officers and firefighters in Multnomah and Washington counties can talk
with each other over the radio because they carry radios that operate in the
same radio spectrum.

But they can't talk with their peers in rural Oregon. Most cities outside the
Portland area use radios that operate in another part of the spectrum.

And the state has no equipment to link the different systems.

In some cases, a Portland police officer and an Oregon State Police trooper
parked on either side of Interstate 5 can't talk to each other over the radio.

"That's absolutely ludicrous," Willis said. "The technology is there. We have to
be smart enough to make this happen."

The Oregon committee, created by a governor's executive order, will first try to
figure out how to tie existing systems together with technological upgrades.
It's a job Johnson compared to making Ford parts fit a Chevrolet.

The second step will be to ensure that local governments replacing outdated
equipment buy radios capable of talking to neighboring departments.

Johnson said the committee also will study sharing towers and frequencies with
wireless phone companies, such as Nextel Communications, AT&T Wireless and
Verizon Wireless.

The system probably won't cover every inch of the state because the cost would
be too high and the benefit too low. Remote areas -- such as the Siskiyou
National Forest where the Biscuit fire blazed this summer -- probably won't be
covered. For major events, crews can post mobile towers to strengthen the radio
signal.

Johnson worries that the committee, which has no budget, may struggle to score
financing. The committee plans to apply for federal grants and to lobby the
state's congressional delegation for money.

In a separate and smaller project, the U.S. Department of Defense is paying $8.9
million to make sure firefighters and police officers working near the Umatilla
Chemical Depot can talk to one another over the radio.

Ken Murphy, deputy director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management,
estimated the statewide project could run $100 million.

"It's not going to be cheap," he said. "I can guarantee you."

By Ryan Frank

To see more of The Oregonian, or to subscribe the newspaper, go to

http://www.oregonian.com

News provided by Comtex.

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