Pictured are the old Titusville Fire Department radios. The lack of radios, and the inability to repair them, forced the department to get new radios, which were recently delivered.
Pictured are the old Titusville Fire Department radios. The lack of radios, and the inability to repair them, forced the department to get new radios, which were recently delivered.
When a new firefighter joins the Titusville Fire Department, Chief Joe Lamey always asks the same question, “What is the most powerful tool we carry?”
Lamey said that the new recruits mostly answer incorrectly, naming items like chainsaw, hoses or pumps.
“The most powerful tool is your radio,” Lamey said. “Your ability to communicate in emergency situations is paramount.”
The Titusville Fire Department received new versions of their most powerful equipment, as 10 new radios recently arrived at the station.
With help from City Hall, the Titusville Fire Department received 10 new Motorola portable radios and the equipment needed to run the radios. The entire project cost $20,299, and was paid for with fiscal year 2020 CDBG funds.
Lamey said that the department was “very thankful” to receive the radios. The department was able to work with Motorola, receiving a discount on the price.
While waiting for the new radios to arrive, the radio situation at the department was getting grave. The department had been using Motorola HT1250 radios, which by department standards were practically ancient.
“Those radios have been here as long as I can remember,” said Lamey. “And I have been here for 24 years.”
The department had been fixing the old radios for years, splicing wires and doing all they could. The problem with the HT1250 model of radio was that it had been discontinued by Motorola.
When a radio needed repairs, parts were no longer being made. The radios can break if they get wet, and Titusville’s Fire Department uses a lot of water.
The department had 20 of the old radios, and that number dwindled as they would break, with no ability to be fixed.
“Once we were below the number of radios than our number of firefighters, the situation reached a critical stage,” said Lamey.
Realizing the situation needed to be remedied, about a year ago, Lamey approached Titusville City Council. After doing some research, Lamey saw that Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding would be available for the new radios.
Lamey worked with City Hall and City Manager Neil Fratus, and they went through the process of getting the available funds. After council had approved the use of CDBG funds, City Hall worked with the Crawford County Planning Office, and received official approval that the radios were an appropriate CDBG project.
The next step was to get quotes, and get the radios ordered. Fratus told The Herald something very similar to what Lamey had said, that “radios are one of the most important pieces of equipment,” and that the City worked hard to get the radios in the hands of the fire department as quickly as they could.
“The City was happy to use CDBG funds to give the department a vital tool that they use every day,” said Fratus.
Lamey said it just reached a year since he approached council about the radios. Supply chain issues caused a four to five month delay getting the radios, which were supposed to arrive in early October 2021.
“Despite the challenges and obstacles, we are very thankful that our guys have been given top technology for communication,” said Lamey.
The fire department is now in a much better place when it comes to their radios. Lamey, however, said there is still some work to be done.
“We have enough for every fire fighter, but we were not able to do a full replacement,” he said. Ideally, Lamey would like to have as many of the new Motorola radios as they had old radios.
In a perfect world each truck, already equipped with a mobile radio system, would also have some portable (handheld) radios.
Lamey said that when firefighters arrive on scene not able to go to the station first, it is advantageous to have the portable radios in the trucks for them. The department also does not currently have any spares.
While the new radios have already been delivered, the radios are on the Crawford County Commissioners’ agenda. The county will vote on Wednesday to ratify the payment to Motorola.
Dvorkin can be reached by email at Gdvorkin@titusvilleherald.com.
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