Emergency Radio System Too Costly: Fire Chief

Emergency Radio System Too Costly: Fire Chief

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 12:35

 

 

A fire chief in Meadow Lake is hoping the provincial government will help pick up the tab for a new radio communications system, due to be introduced next year.

 

Russ Nelson says the new P5 system will replace the aging Fleetnet system, which has been in effect for a long time.

 

Fire crews and emergency medical services personnel have long complained about Fleetnet’s blind spots and frequent breakdowns.

 

The new system coming in is said to be much better than Fleetnet.

 

The problem, Nelson says, is that the government will only give his department two free radios.

 

The others will cost $5,000 each.

 

On top of that, the monthly operating cost for each radio is $89 each month.

 

Nelson says his department currently uses 11 radios, so with the monthly cost averaging close to $10,000, there’s no way they’ll be able to afford the new system.

 

“The cost has really got us concerned, because we’re just a town of about 5,500 and we do have a large protection area,” Nelson says.

 

At the same time, he knows fire brigades need good communications gear when they travel to a fire.

 

He adds that emergency medical service providers seem to be getting a much better deal on the radios — free replacement of all their radios, and a usage cost of only $29 each per month.

 

Nelson doesn’t think that is fair, because some ambulance companies are for-profit.