Major Catawba County structure fire (May 6th)

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pboy

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Abandoned school (Old St. Stephens Elementary on Springs Rd., N.E. Hickory) 8 P.M. Friday May 6

No injury so far. Being allowed to burn. Basically now one massive controlled burn. It is not a practice burn, though.

4 fireground frequencies in simultaneous operation:

County Fire 2-154.295
Hickory City Fire 3-154.175
State Fire-154.280
County Rescue 280-155.280 (being used by fire units not rescue!)

I have never heard such large scale fire scene comms in this county before.
 
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pboy

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Incident began to wind down around 10 P.M. County mobile command center was brought in. SBI on scene. St. Stephens, Oxford, Conover, Hickory and Newton fire units involved. County deputies and Hickory PD provided crowd and traffic control.

All in all a pretty intensive communications event for around here.
 
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pboy

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Not related but within a couple miles from the fire scene, a serious traffic accident pin-in with med copter called. Med copter advised of news chopper traffic in area of fire scene. Diverted to hospital landing pad.

Also in early stages of fire, only blocks away, was car versus mobile home and false fire call at nearby high school.

One wild night in Catawba County.

The weird part is how it all was concentrated in just one area of the county(Springs Rd).
 
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CATAWBA911

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Ref to the use of the State Rescue 280 frequency being used as a "fire" channel. It started out as the Rehab channel by the rescue and ems crews on the scene, they also to start with had the staging area in the same location as things settled into place rehab did not talk on the channel much and the only traffic you would have heard would have been the staging officer talking on it. 280 was later totally done away with at the fire scene so it could be freed up as a scene channel for the double pin in just down the street. As to this point and time the Mobile Command Post is still on the scene so the SBI, County FMO, and St Stephens FD can have a place to hold internal breifings. The Command Post also has a small supply of spare walkies and batteries.
 
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pboy

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Thanks CATAWBA911.

I caught the move to staging channel. Didn't know EMS and Rescue had established rehab on the frequency.

I've never before heard that many frequencies utilized strictly for fireground comms at a Catawba County fire scene.
 
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CATAWBA911

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It was really a great chance to see how things would go on a large scale incident in the county. I hope it makes the powers that be realize that the county needs more scene frequencies such as those needed for staging and even rehab. As far as establishing a rehab channel they did not because everything started off on the same channel (county fire 2) then they realized they needed more channels and ems and rescue did not need to be on the fire suppersion channel and of course hickory has to use some of their channels.
 
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