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From today's online Grand Junction Sentinel
Ham radio operators signing on to help GarCo emergency workers
Listen to this article or download audio file.Click-2-Listen
By MIKE McKIBBIN The Daily Sentinel
Sunday, April 22, 2007
GLENWOOD SPRINGS — When the next big emergency, such as a wildfire, hits Garfield County, specially-trained amateur radio operators will open their microphones to help emergency personnel communicate.
The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services, or RACES, group was recently rejuvenated, Garfield County Sheriff’s Detective Eric Ashworth said.
“When we had the Coal Seam Fire (in 2002 in Glenwood Springs) and before that, the Storm King Fire (a 1994 blaze that killed 14 federal firefighters just west of Glenwood Springs), we had problems with communication,” he said. “Our cell phone networks were jammed, and our emergency dispatch center was overwhelmed with phone calls and talking to all the agencies. We saw that as a perfect time to get something going again.”
Founded in 1952, RACES was designed to supply a reserve, volunteer communications group to help government agencies in times of emergencies. Its original purpose was to help in the event of a nuclear attack, Ashworth said.
Ashworth, the RACES officer for Garfield County, has been a licensed ham radio operator since he was in high school in 1982. The local RACES group has seven members, but 12 more ham radio operators passed their license test this recently, he said.
RACES members are trained in the national Incident Command Center program that grew out of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Ashworth said. That familiarizes them with government practices in emergencies and helps them communicate with emergency personnel over ham radio frequencies, he said.
The nonprofit Grand Mesa Repeater Association was formed to oversee a radio communication network of linked relay stations, commonly called repeaters, Ashworth said. Last year, RACES and the repeater group received $14,000 from the Garfield County Commissioners and radio site space from the county communications authority to cover more of the county, he said. The repeater association has helped Mesa County Search and Rescue personnel obtain their amateur radio licenses and taught them how to use the repeater system. That system is now the primary communication method between team members during search and rescue missions, Ashworth said.
Mike McKibbin can be reached via e-mail at mmckibbin@gjds.com.
Ham radio operators signing on to help GarCo emergency workers
Listen to this article or download audio file.Click-2-Listen
By MIKE McKIBBIN The Daily Sentinel
Sunday, April 22, 2007
GLENWOOD SPRINGS — When the next big emergency, such as a wildfire, hits Garfield County, specially-trained amateur radio operators will open their microphones to help emergency personnel communicate.
The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services, or RACES, group was recently rejuvenated, Garfield County Sheriff’s Detective Eric Ashworth said.
“When we had the Coal Seam Fire (in 2002 in Glenwood Springs) and before that, the Storm King Fire (a 1994 blaze that killed 14 federal firefighters just west of Glenwood Springs), we had problems with communication,” he said. “Our cell phone networks were jammed, and our emergency dispatch center was overwhelmed with phone calls and talking to all the agencies. We saw that as a perfect time to get something going again.”
Founded in 1952, RACES was designed to supply a reserve, volunteer communications group to help government agencies in times of emergencies. Its original purpose was to help in the event of a nuclear attack, Ashworth said.
Ashworth, the RACES officer for Garfield County, has been a licensed ham radio operator since he was in high school in 1982. The local RACES group has seven members, but 12 more ham radio operators passed their license test this recently, he said.
RACES members are trained in the national Incident Command Center program that grew out of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Ashworth said. That familiarizes them with government practices in emergencies and helps them communicate with emergency personnel over ham radio frequencies, he said.
The nonprofit Grand Mesa Repeater Association was formed to oversee a radio communication network of linked relay stations, commonly called repeaters, Ashworth said. Last year, RACES and the repeater group received $14,000 from the Garfield County Commissioners and radio site space from the county communications authority to cover more of the county, he said. The repeater association has helped Mesa County Search and Rescue personnel obtain their amateur radio licenses and taught them how to use the repeater system. That system is now the primary communication method between team members during search and rescue missions, Ashworth said.
Mike McKibbin can be reached via e-mail at mmckibbin@gjds.com.
