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Politics & Government

Verona VFD Looks to Upgrade Radios

Members of Verona's Volunteer Fire Department are seeking help from borough officials to upgrade its radio equipment to comply with FCC regulations.

Verona’s Volunteer Fire Department has to get on a new wavelength by 2013 and borough officials hope to help it do so.

The fire department has to buy new equipment to comply with federal regulations which require business industrial and public safety radio systems—including fire departments—to switch to a narrowband frequency.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires the changeover be complete by Jan. 1, 2013. Many local fire departments are changing now, Councilman Pat McCarthy said. McCarthy is chair of council’s police and fire committees.

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If all goes well, Verona VFD will change over at the beginning of next year. It plans to go in on a purchase from Staley Communications Inc., of Pittsburgh with neighboring Penn Hill’s volunteer fire department.

According to McCarthy, there is no question about whether the new radios will be purchased.                                                

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“We’re going to have to whether we want to or not,” he said. “Nobody here is going to put a firefighter’s life in danger.”

Without updated equipment, the fire department wouldn’t only be out of compliance with federal regulations, it would also be putting lives at risk by preventing its members from communicating with others who use the narrowband frequency.

The new equipment is waterproof and includes Global Positioning Software (GPS) and emergency channel shut off to help locate firefighters in emergency situations where they may be trapped or lost, McCarthy said.

The total cost for Verona’s new equipment—12 portable radios plus two base units which will go in fire trucks—is about $9,800, including a $100 rebate for each of the twelve old radios the fire department exchanges.

“How long that offer will be on the table, we can’t say,” McCarthy said.

Officials suggested that the fire department come up with part of the money and the borough come up with part of it.

Councilwoman Peggy Suchevich said the fire department possibly could hold fundraisers to raise money for the radios.

McCarthy said he has asked the fire department to review their finances and let him know how much they could contribute toward the purchase.

Council president Sandy Drabicki-Bell said council plans to invite someone from the fire department to attend the borough’s Sept. 13 regular meeting for further discussion.

“By next meeting, we have to make a decision,” McCarthy said.

For more information about the regulations, see http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/vhfuhf-narrowbanding-information.

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