Brockton 10 alarm

[BabaDude77]

Was wondering if anyone was listening to the incident at Brockton hospital. More so with the ambulance convoys and mass evacuations , what channels were used for Interop ? Was it all done on the state 800 system or was national V/U/8 tac channels used to coordinate between agencies since I’ve seen some coming from as far as 50-60 miles away?

 

[ecps92]

Plenty - Massachusetts Mutual Fire Districts as well as the Police Mutual Aid (BAPERN)
are robust LMR Nets across multiple bands - the Boston/Eastern Mass BAPERN, came about back in the 70's with the Vietnam War
protests at the colleges, requiring mutual aid on too many different channels. That network now covers ALL of Eastern Mass

The two major Mutual Aid Fire Districts (Norfolk County and Plymouth County) invovled even patched the FG's between the two
Some UHF NIFOG (forget which one 41/42/43) - solo, never caught a VHF or 800 (Tri-Stack)

Plymouth County Fire Departments - Scan New England Wiki

www.snewiki.com

Norfolk County Fire Departments - Scan New England Wiki

www.snewiki.com

Never confirmed, but the Ambulance Task forces generally go VHF (Privates) on the Fire Tower/Parks & Rec aka DCR Repeaters (FAMTRAC)

MA DCR Forestry - Scan New England Wiki

www.snewiki.com

and the Fire Department Ambulances were using one of the County Firegrounds for Travel

AS one person who I spoke to said it was "Task Force Tuesday"

Fire Mobilization

Reference material for fire mobilization

www.mass.gov

Was wondering if anyone was listening to the incident at Brockton hospital. More so with the ambulance convoys and mass evacuations , what channels were used for Interop ? Was it all done on the state 800 system or was national V/U/8 tac channels used to coordinate between agencies since I’ve seen some coming from as far as 50-60 miles away?

 

[W1KNE]

Plymouth County Control 2, and 3 were used, Norfolk County Control was patched to PC2. U-TAC-43 was also used on the scene.
One of the PCC channels was mostly for the PT escorts and the other for on scene. The escorts were tied to the NCC channel.

 

[BabaDude77]

Thanks all good info how do you all think this will change coming up with the new state P2 system rolling out and pushing its way to the SE part of the state (eventually) are there any TG you would suggest having in a scan list in case something of this capacity happens again?

 

[garys]

Nothing much will happen in the short term at least. Bill amd Mike might have other information, but i believe that by and large the local and regional systems will stay as is. A lot of agencies are buying new equipment of late. Police are staying on their current frequencies, but upgrading to P25. One just upgraded and encrypted their primary channel.

 

[StoliRaz]

Another hospital down- just what we need after losing Norwood! Lord help us🤦‍♂️

I missed out on the fire but there was also a nice police chase originating from Brockton this morning. Wrong way up route 24 south, up to 93, down route 3 and ending on route 44. Haven't seen anything on the news about it.

 

[garys]

Chases usually don't end up on the news unless the helicopters are up and able to get video.

Brockton, especially on the Brockton/Stoughton line has been getting sporty lately. Last night there was a head on crash on Rte 27 right on the line. A couple of weeks ago there was a car to car chase/shooting that ended with a crash in the same spot. Shootings in Brockton on a daily basis.

 

[W1KNE]

Another hospital down- just what we need after losing Norwood! Lord help us🤦‍♂️

And Quincy too...

However with that said, there are still a number of hospitals not too far.
(Good Sam, B.I. Milton, Needham, The Carney, South Shore. I am sure I am missing one or two).

 

[W1KNE]

Thanks all good info how do you all think this will change coming up with the new state P2 system rolling out and pushing its way to the SE part of the state (eventually) are there any TG you would suggest having in a scan list in case something of this capacity happens again?

No, it's always good to keep all the BAPERN and County Fire Net frequencies in your scanner if you want to not miss things.
State Police and Media frequencies sometimes help too.

 

[garys]

With boh Norwood and Brockton closed, there is additional stress going to be put on both EMS and the hospitals themselves. Hospital consolidation has been going on since the mid 1990s and continues today.

Longer transport times result in less availability for ambulances and crews. If a Norwood ambulance has to transport to Glover, Milton, Faulkner, or Good Samaritan that means there is a good chance another town will be called in on mutual aid. If an Abington ambulance has to go to Jordan instead of Brockton, the same thing happens.

It's a ripple effect the same as when fire departments have to call in mutual aid for a fire.

Since Good Samaritan adjoins the catchment area of both hospitals they are going to see an increase in admissions which may well push their limits.

As of now the main hospital is closed, but a lot of the clinics are open. Hopefully the power will be restored fairly quickly, but there is going to be significant Hazmat mitigation required.

And Quincy too...

However with that said, there are still a number of hospitals not too far.
(Good Sam, B.I. Milton, Needham, The Carney, South Shore. I am sure I am missing one or two).

 

[StoliRaz]

Chases usually don't end up on the news unless the helicopters are up and able to get video.

Brockton, especially on the Brockton/Stoughton line has been getting sporty lately. Last night there was a head on crash on Rte 27 right on the line. A couple of weeks ago there was a car to car chase/shooting that ended with a crash in the same spot. Shootings in Brockton on a daily basis.

MSP did deploy their helicopter out of Plymouth, but it was near the end of the chase so it likely didn't have much of a chance to get involved. The cruisers involved were going to back off and let the copter pursue the vehicle once it was airborne and had it in sight but I don't think it ever got to that point from the sounds of it. I heard spike strips mentioned a few times with a cruiser at one point stating not to use them, unsure of the reasoning.

As far as news helicopters, they probably had none already up in the air with it being a Saturday morning. Also a good thing with the traffic being much lighter in volume. This all happened around 8:30-9:00 hours

 

[garys]

I was referring mostly to news helicopters. MSP uses their ships for chases when they are in service.

 

[W1KNE]

got to that point from the sounds of it. I heard spike strips mentioned a few times with a cruiser at one point stating not to use them, unsure of the reasoning.

The vehicle did hit the Spike Strips on 44 just past 3, and that rendered it quickly disabled. The MSP cruisers had backed off while the MSP helo was over head.

 

[StoliRaz]

The vehicle did hit the Spike Strips on 44 just past 3, and that rendered it quickly disabled. The MSP cruisers had backed off while the MSP helo was over head.

I guess I missed that part, my reception was getting rather choppy once they got down to 44.

 

[ecps92]

Not much should/would change (from a Scannists Perpsective)
BAPERN will exist in T-Band
Metro Fire will exist in T-Band

Nothing is forcing any departments to join the ComIRS system, yes there are patches from the Core currently
to many of these Mutual Aid radio nets, for those using 800 to seamlessly intergrate.

If you look right now, the current 0D14 is mostly MSP and State Agencies, till you get to the Cape of Cod aka da Sand Bah

As for the MSP changes, we (Scannist perspective) will have a lower Sq Mile monitoring zone, with more mini sits (basing this on FCC filing data)
so hearing Cape Cod users from Northern Plymouth County may be tougher, as they won't be an Adjacent site anymore

All speculation until the system actually begins to roll out to da East

Thanks all good info how do you all think this will change coming up with the new state P2 system rolling out and pushing its way to the SE part of the state (eventually) are there any TG you would suggest having in a scan list in case something of this capacity happens again?

 

[ecps92]

off topic since this was about the Brockton Fire, but......

Just another day in the City

Another hospital down- just what we need after losing Norwood! Lord help us🤦‍♂️

I missed out on the fire but there was also a nice police chase originating from Brockton this morning. Wrong way up route 24 south, up to 93, down route 3 and ending on route 44. Haven't seen anything on the news about it.

 

[ecps92]

Eastern Mass, has had its share of Hospital Closures, but then look at the number we still have, that are Trauma Centers.
The ER maybe closed at Brockton but other services were restored rather quickly.

And Quincy too...

However with that said, there are still a number of hospitals not too far.
(Good Sam, B.I. Milton, Needham, The Carney, South Shore. I am sure I am missing one or two).

 

[garys]

It seems that drivers have been much more willing to run from the police over the past couple of years.

off topic since this was about the Brockton Fire, but......

Just another day in the City

 

[garys]

I think only out patient services are back. So, no patients in house.

Eastern Mass, has had its share of Hospital Closures, but then look at the number we still have, that are Trauma Centers.
The ER maybe closed at Brockton but other services were restored rather quickly.

 

[AFD94]

Never confirmed, but the Ambulance Task forces generally go VHF (Privates) on the Fire Tower/Parks & Rec aka DCR Repeaters (FAMTRAC)

MA DCR Forestry - Scan New England Wiki

www.snewiki.com

and the Fire Department Ambulances were using one of the County Firegrounds for Travel

I’ve never heard anyone use FAMTRAC in all my time working in the control point and assigned to firemob. I know the equipment is still floating around but who knows the last time they were even checked. We always use one of the district simplex firegrounds for travel