Post by va3css on Apr 22, 2006 9:45:26 GMT -5
Canada dot com
A town nearby, Leamington, Ontario, is one of the many fire chiefs behind this. Frankly, I agree.
A little history:
For many decades, much of Ontario was using a single band, and in most cases a single frequency, for ALL fire department related communications. They had a different frequency for the different "sections" of the Province, but within that one section, all the fire departments used the same frequency.
It was convenient for the purposes of dispatch. A central dispatch could make the initial fire call on the specified frequency, and although intending one fire station or two to respond, would also be alerting all the neighbouring stations, who could monitor the call when it's made. That helped when things got out of hand, and a fire or situation required backup help. The neighbouring depts. would already be aware of what's going on, and could be quietly preparing to join in if the call is made. This shortened the time to get assistance.
The downside of it was if things truly got busy, the one frequency was far too cluttered and unusable.
In September 1999, there was a terrible chain-reaction multi-vehicle crash on the 401 Expressway (Freeway) just outside of Windsor. Thick fog was believed to be the catalyst. 87 vehicles, both cars and trucks, were unknowingly joining the pileup, adding fuel to the fire that gutted not only the vehicles, but was so intense that it literally melted the asphalt away. The Freeway required repairs to it's pavement after the accident. There were more than 100 injuries and eight deaths. Of the eight deaths, it was believed that six of them were not from the crash itself, but from the ensuing fire.
That morning, the local fire dept. frequency of 153.770Mhz, was well overburdened with traffic. Scores of fire depts. from Windsor to Chatham, 100kms away, responded to the incident. A mobile command post was setup on the site to co-ordinate their efforts.
But just imagine the congestion of thirty or so fire depts. all on scene at this incident, along with all the other calls going out that day and in the ensuing days, all happening on the same frequency???
Madness. Complete and utter chaos.
Rick Murray, Amherstburg, Ontario's Fire Chief, one of the responding fire depts. to the pile up, immediately began his quest to push the issue with the local, Provincial and Federal officials. A new radio system to replace the current one was in order. It hadn't received a significant upgrade in 40 years, and it was well overdue.
That request was only FINALLY filled this year. They finally do have that new system. Lucky for us, nothing like that crash has happened while we waited.
But even with the new radio system, the old frequencies are still in use. Unlike some of the upgrades to other emergency responders radio systems, the fire depts. rightfully maintained their old setup for overflow and logistical use.
That will be threatened by allowing "FRS-style" public use of that band, even at low power levels. The area where the above pileup occurred is a rural one. Snowmobilers, hunters and hikers are most likely found in areas such as this. Should the same thing occur, is it wise to have them cluttering priority traffic??
And you just know what's going to happen....
You get the idea....
I find it most interesting that while our governments often threaten the Amateur bands with re-classification, they would choose to allocate emergency bands to low-power non-licensed use such as this. If anything, allowing Amateurs as secondary users with a limit of five watts on the 150Mhz area of the band makes more sense. At least they can assist if needed, like in the September 1999 pileup, and would know enough to clear the frequency if emergency services came into the area.
Sometimes, governments make you wonder...
Association president Michael Eddy says the 150 MHz bandwidth can penetrate building walls and glass, making it ideal for communicating with firefighters who have entered burning buildings to save lives.
Industry Canada, the department responsible for allocating bandwidth, wants to open 150 MHz to private users within five years and Eddy says it has provided no assurance that alternative bandwidths will be made available to emergency services.
Industry Canada, the department responsible for allocating bandwidth, wants to open 150 MHz to private users within five years and Eddy says it has provided no assurance that alternative bandwidths will be made available to emergency services.
A town nearby, Leamington, Ontario, is one of the many fire chiefs behind this. Frankly, I agree.
A little history:
For many decades, much of Ontario was using a single band, and in most cases a single frequency, for ALL fire department related communications. They had a different frequency for the different "sections" of the Province, but within that one section, all the fire departments used the same frequency.
It was convenient for the purposes of dispatch. A central dispatch could make the initial fire call on the specified frequency, and although intending one fire station or two to respond, would also be alerting all the neighbouring stations, who could monitor the call when it's made. That helped when things got out of hand, and a fire or situation required backup help. The neighbouring depts. would already be aware of what's going on, and could be quietly preparing to join in if the call is made. This shortened the time to get assistance.
The downside of it was if things truly got busy, the one frequency was far too cluttered and unusable.
In September 1999, there was a terrible chain-reaction multi-vehicle crash on the 401 Expressway (Freeway) just outside of Windsor. Thick fog was believed to be the catalyst. 87 vehicles, both cars and trucks, were unknowingly joining the pileup, adding fuel to the fire that gutted not only the vehicles, but was so intense that it literally melted the asphalt away. The Freeway required repairs to it's pavement after the accident. There were more than 100 injuries and eight deaths. Of the eight deaths, it was believed that six of them were not from the crash itself, but from the ensuing fire.
That morning, the local fire dept. frequency of 153.770Mhz, was well overburdened with traffic. Scores of fire depts. from Windsor to Chatham, 100kms away, responded to the incident. A mobile command post was setup on the site to co-ordinate their efforts.
But just imagine the congestion of thirty or so fire depts. all on scene at this incident, along with all the other calls going out that day and in the ensuing days, all happening on the same frequency???
Madness. Complete and utter chaos.
Rick Murray, Amherstburg, Ontario's Fire Chief, one of the responding fire depts. to the pile up, immediately began his quest to push the issue with the local, Provincial and Federal officials. A new radio system to replace the current one was in order. It hadn't received a significant upgrade in 40 years, and it was well overdue.
That request was only FINALLY filled this year. They finally do have that new system. Lucky for us, nothing like that crash has happened while we waited.
But even with the new radio system, the old frequencies are still in use. Unlike some of the upgrades to other emergency responders radio systems, the fire depts. rightfully maintained their old setup for overflow and logistical use.
That will be threatened by allowing "FRS-style" public use of that band, even at low power levels. The area where the above pileup occurred is a rural one. Snowmobilers, hunters and hikers are most likely found in areas such as this. Should the same thing occur, is it wise to have them cluttering priority traffic??
And you just know what's going to happen....
Fire: "Chatham unit 207 on the scene."
Hunter1: "What??? Who said that???"
Hunter2: "Not me!"
Fire: "Who's on this frequency??"
Hunter2: "Are you talking to me??"
Dispatch: "Chatham unit 207... are you reading dispatch??"
Fire: "Dispatch, please repeat. We're getting some local interference here!"
Dispatch: "Chatham unit 207, please..." (heterodyne noise)
Hunter1: ".... so I think we better be quiet."
Hunter2: "What??? All I got was a bunch of noise."
Hunter1: "I said..." (heterodyne)
Fire: "... please..." (heterodyne) "... frequency..." (heterodyne)
Dispatch: "Chatham 207... we're not reading you. Please check your radio."
Fire: "Dispatch, it's not the radio! It's..." (heterodyne)
Hunter2: "...think we're interfering with..." (heterodyne)
Dispatch: "Chatham 207... please respond via cell phone. Repeat... if you can read dispatch, please respond..." (heterodyne)
You get the idea....
I find it most interesting that while our governments often threaten the Amateur bands with re-classification, they would choose to allocate emergency bands to low-power non-licensed use such as this. If anything, allowing Amateurs as secondary users with a limit of five watts on the 150Mhz area of the band makes more sense. At least they can assist if needed, like in the September 1999 pileup, and would know enough to clear the frequency if emergency services came into the area.
Sometimes, governments make you wonder...
