State Fire Net 154.28

[Gezelle007]

How often does the Emergency Center in Salem test the 154.28 Fire Net Channel?I heard them coming off of Goat Mountain and Buxton Mountain the other day. Seems to be simplex with the common 156.7 as the PL. They were asking units how the quality of the audio was, and what radio they were TXing from, base or mobile or portable. The test from Buxton mountain was the last call I heard.

PS - Its awesome to watch the listener numbers climb on a live feed when calls come in one after the other like crazy... Newberg Fire got pretty busy awhile ago...

[Baker845]

I use to hear the test on State Fire Net once week, but havent heard any thing in 2 -3 months. I hear the test off Marys Peak.

[Gezelle007]

Originally Posted by Baker845

I use to hear the test on State Fire Net once week, but havent heard any thing in 2 -3 months. I hear the test off Marys Peak.

Yeah I found some pdf thing about the system and it states that their is to be tests every week off of the 23 moutain top sites that they have, but a couple days ago was the first time I have ever heard it.

[joeywas]

I used to conduct those weekly tests back in 1996 to 2001. I worked at Oregon Emergency Response System (OERS), and we had the master console for Firenet. We had a form that we went through each week testing all the channels. There were some times that I had to call the dispatch center closest to the mountain top to try and have one of their units test with me.

The master console had a phone patch that we were able to patch a user on the simplex channel to a phone call. I remember patching an incident commander on a wildfire out in far eastern oregon onto the phone with one of the SFM duty officers. It was cool!

Sent a quick email to one of the techs today to find out the status of it because I noticed it was no longer in use on one of the systems I'm currently working on.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by joeywas

I used to conduct those weekly tests back in 1996 to 2001.
.

In my opinion, if it is supposed to be a mutual aid net, it falls far short of how it should be operated. I was involved with Metrofire, the mutual aid system in the Boston area. The system includes about 35 municipalities and agencies in the Boston Metro area. The Boston Fire Department is the control center.

Every movement of fire apparatus to another agency is announced on a UHF frequency. To assure everyone is familiar with using the system, the base stations are tested twice a day because they are on 10/14 hour shifts. If someone does not reply, they are recalled after the test. If there is still no response, they are called by telephone. All mobile and portable units are tested monthly. For detailed info here is their website. http://www.massmetrofire.org/

[ORE007]

I heard that they are taking down all towers due to the maintenance cost. Technology for cell hone cover is pretty good and that was the purpose of the system to be able to communicate with Salem. Check n page 6 about them decommissioning the system as of June 30. http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/SFM/docs/July_12_GatedWye.pdf

[DickH]

Originally Posted by ORE007

I heard that they are taking down all towers due to the maintenance cost. Technology for cell hone cover is pretty good and that was the purpose of the system to be able to communicate with Salem. Check n page 6 about them decommissioning the system as of June 30. http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/SFM/docs/July_12_GatedWye.pdf

"... The decommissioning of the FireNET system has no effect on that frequency and its use."
LOL Since it's hardly (never?) used for anything useful, that's pretty funny.

[oregontreehugger]

If anything, my guess is that it's treated now as just another available mutual aid frequency. I can see it being useful during a big urban interface situation or mobilization, or even used responding across state lines since CA utilizes it, too.

[Ethanfire]

With the system decomissioned, is the frequency still going to be availble for use? We're revamping our frequency coordinations doen here in the Rogue Valley, that's what prompted me to find this thread.

[oregontreehugger]

Dunno, with all the changes mentioned here, I'd contact the SFM office in Salem for the official answer.

[ORE007]

The channel will still. E the mutual aid state fire net and will be used on scene and no longer to communicate back to Salem.

[Fielder3]

Yes agencies still use it for coordination between agencies, counties, and dispatch centers. We have it in comm center in Salem. Great resource in the Willlamette Valley because so many dept's use different radio systems. VCall and VTac (or UTac depending on your system) channels should also be programmed in your radios and bases.

[Fielder3]

Contact ECSO 911 in Medford, find out who your county "frequency coordinator" is (if one is assigned.) and ask them about it and usage in your area.

By the way it works great as a travel net for mutual aid in the state.

Originally Posted by Ethanfire

With the system decomissioned, is the frequency still going to be availble for use? We're revamping our frequency coordinations doen here in the Rogue Valley, that's what prompted me to find this thread.

[ORE007]

This is the article that was in the July gated wye from the State Fire Marshals Office.

State FireNET decommissioned
The Oregon State FireNET system will be decommissioned June 30, 2012.
The FireNET system consisted of 23 mountaintop remote bases around the state and was originally installed in the late 1980s, before the widespread availability of cellular phone service.
Each remote base site was only capable of communicating to and from the OSFM Agency Operations
Center in Salem. They were not repeater sites and did not enhance communications locally. The
system went essentially unused in the past decade, except for weekly tests and, on a few occasions
during conflagrations.
Due to lack of use, better communications alternatives,and system maintenance costs (the need
to “narrow-band” the sites and install upgrades to comply with future Federal Communication Commission requirements), the FireNET system’s 23 mountaintop remote bases are being decommissioned.
There will be no impact to the Oregon fire service. The State FireNET frequency (Oregon Fire
Service Mutual Aid Frequency [154.280 MHz with no PL tones]) remains the state mutual aid frequency
for the fire service. The decommissioning of the FireNET system has no effect on that frequency and
its use.