Fire chiefs hot about radio problems

Area fire chiefs took a message to the Shawano County Public Safety Committee on Wednesday to be sure they were heard loud and clear.

They apparently were a lot clearer than some of the messages dispatched on the county’s new simulcast system, which had been guaranteed to provide 95 percent coverage across the county. Several fire chiefs, most from eastern Shawano County, reported transmissions are not getting through.

The county received a federal grant for $861,266 in 2012 to help update the radio system from analog, which covered 70 percent of the county, to simulcast. The county chipped in more than $86,000 as a match.

The simulcast system went live in September, and that’s when the problems started for area fire departments.

Jerry Weatherwax, Pella fire chief, said the system is inconsistent. A test page from the county dispatch Tuesday night was broken and unclear, he said, while another test page Wednesday afternoon was received without difficulty.

Weatherwax reported his radio worked fine during a fire call last week to Belle Plaine, but there was poor reception during another call in January.

“I’m really concerned that there might be a problem down the road. I’m concerned for my firefighters,” Weatherwax said. “We have such inconsistency that it might put the life of one of my firefighters in jeopardy.”

Rob Woldt, Bonduel fire chief, reported problems with radio reception even within a mile of the tower in Bonduel. He echoed Weatherwax’s concerns that firefighters’ lives are in peril if they cannot properly communicate.

“I’m not going to take the liability. I’m going to come back at you people,” Woldt said.

The chiefs also presented several letters to the committee expressing similar concerns.

Jeff Schuh, communications coordinator with the Sheriff’s Department, said most of the issues have been attributed to the radio tower in Bonduel. The other towers have not experienced problems, he said.

The county shares the tower with the state, and the communications breakdown appears to involve the repeaters (automatic radio-relays) between the Bonduel and Gresham towers. It is unclear whether the problem is with the state’s transmission equipment or with the county.

The continued problems with emergency transmissions, which has been on the County Board’s plate for years, frustrated Supervisor Bert Huntington, who noted that Schuh and Sheriff Randy Wright assured the County Board that the new digital system would work.

Huntington questioned why the problem had not been solved in the five months since the system change.

“You’d better get extra people here to work on it and get it working, because this is bull,” Huntington said. “We’re trying to protect all these guys (in emergency services), and that system isn’t working. It’s wrong.”

Schuh said the problems are fixable, but the county is waiting on testing equipment, which should arrive by the end of next week. He said he hoped to have a progress report for the committee at its meeting March 12.

Doug Knope, Shawano fire chief, reported that the radio system was working fine for his department.