Fire Ground Radio Communications - Fire Engineering Training Community2024-03-29T15:25:20Zhttps://community.fireengineering.com/forum/topic/show?commentId=1219672%3AComment%3A60019&id=1219672%3ATopic%3A60002&feed=yes&xn_auth=noChris,on our FD each of our f…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2009-04-12:1219672:Comment:1351512009-04-12T04:12:19.345ZBrenda Tenneyhttps://community.fireengineering.com/profile/BrendaTenney
Chris,on our FD each of our fire fighters has their own radio. On our Fd we had nearly 30 members for the small town we live in. We are adding on new additions,to make our buildings larger.We have and good dispatch center that communicates with our fire fighters well. In The FD we have and mobile unit,in our own personal vehical's ,we have radio's ,etc.<br />
We work with about (9 ) other fire departments.,when and structure fire is large ,we are toned out to go to a certain zone area.We have not had…
Chris,on our FD each of our fire fighters has their own radio. On our Fd we had nearly 30 members for the small town we live in. We are adding on new additions,to make our buildings larger.We have and good dispatch center that communicates with our fire fighters well. In The FD we have and mobile unit,in our own personal vehical's ,we have radio's ,etc.<br />
We work with about (9 ) other fire departments.,when and structure fire is large ,we are toned out to go to a certain zone area.We have not had and bad year ,like we did last year.<br />
Our department certainly needs new radio's. The radio i have now,i can receive ,but not send out message's .Will be getting a better one,soon.<br />
A fire dept was destroyed last night when and tornado went though Aiken county,near August Ga,<br />
Our prayers go out to those who lost their life's and homes and the FD. Chris,
My department has 63 c…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2009-04-10:1219672:Comment:1349892009-04-10T19:05:05.596ZDouglas DuBreehttps://community.fireengineering.com/xn/detail/u_36a0pfsymbmpf
Chris,<br />
My department has 63 career personnel with 19 per shift. All of our personnel carry a radio and we have a dispatch freq. and a Fireground freq. Our dispatchers can monitor both frequencies. Our portables have the idenitfier on them of who is transmitting.
Chris,<br />
My department has 63 career personnel with 19 per shift. All of our personnel carry a radio and we have a dispatch freq. and a Fireground freq. Our dispatchers can monitor both frequencies. Our portables have the idenitfier on them of who is transmitting. Chris, my department is caree…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2009-04-09:1219672:Comment:1348042009-04-09T18:16:21.945ZJeff Schweringhttps://community.fireengineering.com/xn/detail/u_37b96vk1v2kop
Chris, my department is career, 2 paramedic/rescue engines out of the same house. We have 25 members. Every firefighter has a portable radio. Our radios are new, thanks to an AFG grant. We have dispatch, fireground, which are monitored by our fire alarm office, we also have 4 primary command channels that we use on a working incident. The command channel are monitored by the IC and his staff. On a large incident we can request a dispatcher from fire alarm to the scene to monitor radio traffic,…
Chris, my department is career, 2 paramedic/rescue engines out of the same house. We have 25 members. Every firefighter has a portable radio. Our radios are new, thanks to an AFG grant. We have dispatch, fireground, which are monitored by our fire alarm office, we also have 4 primary command channels that we use on a working incident. The command channel are monitored by the IC and his staff. On a large incident we can request a dispatcher from fire alarm to the scene to monitor radio traffic, this has worked great in the past, hope this helps.<br />
<br />
Stay Safe Chris, a volunteer department…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2009-04-09:1219672:Comment:1347642009-04-09T14:10:02.173ZPaul Grimhttps://community.fireengineering.com/xn/detail/u_2su4fi9nuztny
Chris, a volunteer department of 250. We have a disptach channel and a fireground. The fireground is NOT one of the same channels used in the disptach, which is a repeater. The dispatcher can hear the fireground MOST of the time. We have a receiver for fireground at two locations in the district, north and south, to aid in the reception back to the dispatch. However when inside certain buildings the portables do not make it back to dispatch, just outside to the command post. There are 5-6…
Chris, a volunteer department of 250. We have a disptach channel and a fireground. The fireground is NOT one of the same channels used in the disptach, which is a repeater. The dispatcher can hear the fireground MOST of the time. We have a receiver for fireground at two locations in the district, north and south, to aid in the reception back to the dispatch. However when inside certain buildings the portables do not make it back to dispatch, just outside to the command post. There are 5-6 portables on each truck, assigned by seat or task. A typical response would give every member a radio. On those occassions where more manpower responds, the team or task leader has the radio. All have ID and its the command posts responsibilty to monitor for maydays or emergency traffic. Typically the incident commander communicates with the interior crews, while an aide monitors and communicates with disptach. Chris,
My name is John. Iam a…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2008-09-09:1219672:Comment:787352008-09-09T19:00:05.679Zjohn wakie jr.https://community.fireengineering.com/profile/john23
Chris,<br />
My name is John. Iam a member of the F.D.N.Y. In my department all members are radio equipped. This in its self poses a problem due to the amount of radio traffic at alarms. The Battalion Chiefs and the Deputy Chiefs rigs are both equipped with a handhand recording device. This device only records radio transmissions once they are on scene and in range of the transmissions.the one feature on our radios that we do have is and emergency aleart button. When it is pressed it alearts a…
Chris,<br />
My name is John. Iam a member of the F.D.N.Y. In my department all members are radio equipped. This in its self poses a problem due to the amount of radio traffic at alarms. The Battalion Chiefs and the Deputy Chiefs rigs are both equipped with a handhand recording device. This device only records radio transmissions once they are on scene and in range of the transmissions.the one feature on our radios that we do have is and emergency aleart button. When it is pressed it alearts a distinct tone amoung all radios and boosts the wattage of the transmitting radio from 2 1/2 watts to 5 watts.(this really is not as good as it sounds, there are still many problems with our radios ). Now to the radio channels normally we are all on channel 1 only on multiple alarms do we swich channels (And only if told to do so by the incident commander) Our radios are able to operate on 16 channels with 16 as the dedicated emergency channel.(this channel is not monitored so you only switch to this channel if told to by the I.C. after you give a mayday) hope this helps you out if you have any other questions feel free to e mail me at D1RC @aol.com......-john Our Department, when fully st…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2008-09-08:1219672:Comment:786022008-09-08T21:05:40.796ZLarry Lasichhttps://community.fireengineering.com/profile/Larry77
Our Department, when fully staffed, has 7 paid firefighters on duty, working 3 shifts. We are in a geographically separated part of Madison County, MT. Our natural access is through Gallatin County. Our district is approx 22 sq miles of Forest and W/UI.<br />
<br />
All persons on duty have BK radios and the Scott EZ Radiocom II system that connects to the BA face piece. Everyone working in IDLH has their radio on; only the Crew Leader will talk unless there is Emergency or Mayday traffic.<br />
<br />
Our county runs…
Our Department, when fully staffed, has 7 paid firefighters on duty, working 3 shifts. We are in a geographically separated part of Madison County, MT. Our natural access is through Gallatin County. Our district is approx 22 sq miles of Forest and W/UI.<br />
<br />
All persons on duty have BK radios and the Scott EZ Radiocom II system that connects to the BA face piece. Everyone working in IDLH has their radio on; only the Crew Leader will talk unless there is Emergency or Mayday traffic.<br />
<br />
Our county runs with a "check-in and assignment" channel and an operations channel, as a minimum. IC can assign channels for water supply, divisions, etc., as he sees fit. Dispatch will talk with the IC on the operations channel that he has claimed until he demobs everyone else and terminates IC. Dispatch will then open that channel for other incidents Chris,
There are 32 replys to…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2008-09-08:1219672:Comment:784982008-09-08T01:40:50.151ZFrank Riccihttps://community.fireengineering.com/xn/detail/u_ha75wz59athh
Chris,<br />
There are 32 replys to part of your question in the tactical building blocks group. Everyone should have a radio not everyone should talk on it.
Chris,<br />
There are 32 replys to part of your question in the tactical building blocks group. Everyone should have a radio not everyone should talk on it. I can honestly say that I don…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2008-09-07:1219672:Comment:784792008-09-07T22:38:19.954ZJeff Buechelhttps://community.fireengineering.com/profile/JeffBuechel
I can honestly say that I don't have a lot of information on how they are setting the system up. From what I am told, it will be very similar to what some counties around us are using. Four fireground channels with 3 zones each. Four EMS channels with 3 zones each. In my last department, we were assigned a firegroup by dispatch. How we set the zones up was up to the IC.<br />
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We are using conventional channels at this time. We opperate on a UHF system. Channel 1 is county dispatch channel. Channel 3…
I can honestly say that I don't have a lot of information on how they are setting the system up. From what I am told, it will be very similar to what some counties around us are using. Four fireground channels with 3 zones each. Four EMS channels with 3 zones each. In my last department, we were assigned a firegroup by dispatch. How we set the zones up was up to the IC.<br />
<br />
We are using conventional channels at this time. We opperate on a UHF system. Channel 1 is county dispatch channel. Channel 3 is county fireground. Channel 4 is an optional fireground channel. When we are on scene, we are on 3. Everyone no matter if they are in IDLH, or filling scba bottles, or handing out water in rehab, everyone is on 3.<br />
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I agree that there is never enough money. Chief came back from a meeting about the radios, and he didn't seem too pleased about the hardware. He thought it was already junk, and these were the new units. He did say that we can set up our own radios, and use our own talk channels. I know it won't be perfect from the start, but maybe this will force us to train with the radios themselves, it will be a huge help.<br />
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I hope this helps. I am a POC on a combination d…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2008-09-06:1219672:Comment:783572008-09-06T23:23:57.096ZJeff Buechelhttps://community.fireengineering.com/profile/JeffBuechel
I am a POC on a combination department that serves 75% municipal and 25% rural populations. We have charging ports for portable radios for every riding position on Engine 1, and two ports for Ladder 1 and Engine 2. I say charging ports instead of radios because it seems that when needed, the radios are dead. We don't have shoreline power to all the rigs, so the radios don't get charged unless they are in the truck while it is running...you know, like when you are on scene and need the radios.…
I am a POC on a combination department that serves 75% municipal and 25% rural populations. We have charging ports for portable radios for every riding position on Engine 1, and two ports for Ladder 1 and Engine 2. I say charging ports instead of radios because it seems that when needed, the radios are dead. We don't have shoreline power to all the rigs, so the radios don't get charged unless they are in the truck while it is running...you know, like when you are on scene and need the radios. Even when they work, people forget to grab them. I agree that not everyone should talk on the radios, but it would be nice to use them when needed. Sorry, I needed to vent.<br />
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We use a separate fireground, and dispatch channels. The county will soon be putting in service a trunked system. I am looking forward to this. My previous department, in another county, had a trunking system, and it was a great tool on the firegound. There was nothing worse than being inside on a working fire, and not being able to transmit a PAR, or a situation report, because someone at a water fill site needed to transmit that they were filling tankers, and were ready for more, on the one fireground frequency. (Don't get me wrong. It is nice to know if there is a new fill site open, but when I'm on the inside, I really don't care about water unless I don't have enough.)<br />
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Other than water, there is no greater tool for safety on the fireground than a radio, on the right channel, in the hands of a fireman who knows how to use it. Information is power. Chris,
I work for a 105 memb…tag:community.fireengineering.com,2008-09-05:1219672:Comment:781442008-09-05T15:36:39.125ZBryan Downiehttps://community.fireengineering.com/profile/BryanDownie
Chris,<br />
<br />
I work for a 105 member career department near Cleveland. We have 25 firefighters on duty at all times and every riding position has a radio and members are required to have them at all times. We actually have very few problems with excessive radio traffic during emergencies. In fact, we probably don't communicate enough at times, such as reporting bench marks, completed assignments etc.<br />
<br />
Our radios also have identifiers in them that shows the radio number of the radio transmitting.…
Chris,<br />
<br />
I work for a 105 member career department near Cleveland. We have 25 firefighters on duty at all times and every riding position has a radio and members are required to have them at all times. We actually have very few problems with excessive radio traffic during emergencies. In fact, we probably don't communicate enough at times, such as reporting bench marks, completed assignments etc.<br />
<br />
Our radios also have identifiers in them that shows the radio number of the radio transmitting. These numbers are assigned by company number and riding position and they follow the same format for every apparatus. The first number is the company number and the second is the riding position. For example: radio 21 is the CO of engine 2, 22 is the engine operator so forth.<br />
<br />
Until recently we operated on only one channel but a couple of factors came into play. First our run volume is around 13,000 responses per year (we do operate 4 Medic units), so radio traffic is becoming more of a factor. It seems when we do get a working incident, everything else breaks loose as well. The other and perhaps more important factor was switching to a digital system.<br />
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Digital really threw us a number of challenges in terms of clarity, feedback etc. After much experimenting we decided to follow the IAFC reccomendations and use digital for dispatch purposes but we now switch to a fire ground channel that is analog for fire incidents. This required us to install repeaters on all engine and ladder trucks. We did this so our "line of sight" analog can reach back to our communication center and they can monitor fire ground radio traffic. Its pretty simple, the first due company switches their repeater on upon arrival. We can only have one repeater on at a time as it creates more problems.<br />
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One drawback during a Mayday is that our emergency PIN button on the radios only work on the digital signal. A member can call a Mayday on the fireground channel that can be heard by the IC and the comm center. But if they need to activate their emergency button, they must switch to our dispatch channel. To simplify things, our radios were revamped. The dial that switched channels has fire dispatch on the first and last position on the dial. The fire ground channel is the second and next to last position on the dial. If you want to talk to fire dispatch directly or to activate the emergency alert and you don't know which channel you are on, you simply turn the dial fully to either end of the dial and it is dispatch. One more turn is fire ground.<br />
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We are still a work in progress and there was much concern from our members about the system when the changes first came out. But our radio communication committee and our Union safety committee (of which I'm a member) explained that there are not many other options but to have digital and analog and that we are following national reccomendations.<br />
It is not a perfect system, but as with all things, with training and patience, it can work until there are improvements in the digital technology.<br />
<br />
Hope this helps. Its a little lengthy but I did want to address the digital issue and how it affected us.<br />
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Stay safe Brother,<br />
<br />
Bryan Downie