Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Providence, R.I. Selectmen award contract to upgrade fire radios -

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 15:52:45 -0400

Selectmen award contract to upgrade fire radios -The improved
communication system is expected to also improve the safety of
firefighters at fire scenes.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, May 20, 2004
By MICHAEL P. McKINNEY

Journal Staff Writer

SEEKONK -- Motorola won approval last night to improve the Fire
Department's radio communication system. Each firefighter will get a
portable radio equipped with, among other things, an emergency button
that can signal a comrade in trouble.
The town has received a $149,130 grant from the Federal Emergency
Managment Agency through the Assistance to Firefighter program, covering
90 percent of the communication upgrade, while it will pay more than
$16,000. The Motorola office in Scituate, R.I., will do the work.

The upgrade is important, according to acting Fire Chief Michael Healey,
because currently, if a firefighter needs to relay a message from inside
some commercial buildings, his radio signal might not reach fire trucks
parked outside.

"It's going to make my guys a lot safer," said Healey outside the
selectmen's meeting last night. "They're going to be able to coordinate
with each other a lot better."

Healey said right now, not all of the 40 full-time and call firefighters
has a portable radio, but that will change. The radios can send a signal
that gives dispatchers a number. The number represents a firefighter, so
the department will know who is in danger at a fire.

Healey said the new system also puts radios on a repeater. "A repeater
allows you to transmit and receive better," he said.
Fire Department Lt. Allan Grocott said a May 2002 study found the radio
system "was in very poor condition, that it put our firefighters in
jeopardy."

Grocott said he hopes the radio system will be functioning within three
months.

In a January interview, Healey said the current communication has
another problem: Sometimes chatter from Boston metropolitan area
firefighters interferes with the Seekonk frequency, and vice versa.

The new system also aims to reduce the dead spots in town where
communication can fade out.

Healey said Verizon will install vital parts of the communication system
on a tower the company is putting off Route 44 to reduce labor expenses.
The town will also have use of Verizon's generator at the tower, in case
of a power problem.
"This will all stand to improve the fire safety," Grocott said.

In other action last night, the selectmen approved a $39,000 donation
from the estate of Ruth Hatch for improvements at the Seekonk Animal
Shelter. Animal Control Officer Jan Bowden told the selectmen that the
building is in need of refurbishing and said that, like many town
departments, there is no funds available.

To contact Mike McKinney, phone 508-674-8401 or e-mail
mmckinne(at)projo.com.
© Belo Interactive Inc.
http://www.projo.com/massachusetts/content/projo_20040520_se20bos.28542d.html

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