Orange & Surrounding Counties Mutual Aid.

[Jbooth75]

I am in Orange County.

I know that when Orange County calls out for mutual aid from Sullivan County, N.Y., Rockland County, N.Y., Westchester County, N.Y., Sussex County, N.J., and Pike County, Pa., it is done through the Quad State Interop Channel. Those counties also use this channel to communicate with Orange County, and Pike and Sussex counties use it to communicate with each other.

However, I never hear any interaction with Ulster County, N.Y., Dutchess County, N.Y., Putnam County, N.Y., or Passaic County, N.J. These are the other counties that surround Orange. There is frequent cross-border mutual aid between Orange and Ulster, and just last evening, West Milford Twp., in Passaic County, was on scene for a structure fire in Greenwood Lake.

So, my question would be, is there another channel or frequency that I should have plugged into my scanner that these other counties use to talk with Orange and vice versa? I do not see anything in the RR database. Or does Orange County simply use telephones to communicate with the various 911 centers in these other jurisdictions?

If someone knows, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[GTR8000]

45.88 is the most common RF resource for NYS mutual aid, however the phone is probably much more common these days. There is no RF resource for inter-state comms, except for Quad State.

The only counties so far that have access to the Quad State talkgroup are Orange (the system it's home to), Rockland, Sullivan, Pike, Sussex, and Westchester (who hardly ever use it, even to talk to Rockland). There has been talk of other surrounding counties getting on board, but so far very slow or no progress. And despite the name, it's really a tri-state talkgroup as CT will almost certainly never participate as was envisioned when it was created.

 

[murse_joe]

For Passaic County they will call by phone to request. They may even call directly a municipality for example West Milford if they need specific resources like tankers. There's not a common fire radio state-to-state.

 

[Jbooth75]

45.88 is the most common RF resource for NYS mutual aid, however the phone is probably much more common these days. There is no RF resource for inter-state comms, except for Quad State.

The only counties so far that have access to the Quad State talkgroup are Orange (the system it's home to), Rockland, Sullivan, Pike, Sussex, and Westchester (who hardly ever use it, even to talk to Rockland). There has been talk of other surrounding counties getting on board, but so far very slow or no progress. And despite the name, it's really a tri-state talkgroup as CT will almost certainly never participate as was envisioned when it was created.

Thank you.

And, you inadvertently answered another separate question I have always had. Who's the fourth state in the "Quad State"? I figured it had to be Connecticut, even if they weren't participating.

 

[orangEMT246]

Dutchess County has 45.88 and monitors it. Normally to talk to surrounding counties, they use the phone.

 

[N2ACF]

Ulster County also has a dedicated Quad State Base wired to their console, but so far, hasn't really used it. They continue to contact Orange on 45.880 when it would be a much clearer transmission if they used the TRS.

 

[KC2zZe]

Joe, who exactly would an agency be contacting to get those tankers out of West Milford that you mentioned? Is there an equivalent to 36-, 44-, 53-, and/or 60-Control in Passaic County or is West Milford FD dispatched by the local police department, like so many FDs and EMS are in the State? Same thing with Erskine Lakes VFC...would the Ringwood Police be the point-of-contact for mutual aid into Tuxedo? I'm wondering how it works when / if there is no consolidated dispatch center to reach out to. Perhaps that is why Passaic isn't on Quad-State.

 

[murse_joe]

They can call Passaic County. The Passaic County Sheriff Office dispatches countywide resources but doesn't dispatch any fire departments directly. PCSO will pass it along to the local fire departments. Passaic County has MACs (Mutual Aid Coordinates) that can be requested to assist.

The surrounding municipalities can also be called directly. Ringwood PD or West Milford PD do dispatch their own fire departments and border Orange County. It cuts out a middleman but if you need a lot of resources then that's one dispatcher calling a lot of small towns.

Sussex county will also send resources into NY when requested but i don't know how they work.

 

[Jbooth75]

Sussex has more of a centralized dispatch, although some localities do dispatch as well. Sussex uses the Quad State Interop Channel for mutal aid with Orange. They use the same channel to communicate with Pike, Pa.