Clarky
Member
TRENTON NEW JERSEY — The Trenton Fire Department has been working with a backup radio system that has only one channel for over 24 hours, officials said Tuesday evening.
Firefighters on the current shift Tuesday evening said the main radio system, with multiple channels, stopped working at about 6 p.m. Monday, forcing the department to resort to the backup.
With 11 companies talking on just one channel at fire calls, communications can be missed and firefighters say there are numerous safety issues by having only one line of communication with each other and dispatchers, two firefighters said. They asked that their names not be published.
One said he was forced to speak with a fire dispatcher via personal cell phone while on a fire call.
The department is scheduled to switch to a brand new radio system in the near future, one that was budgeted for two years ago.
Firefighters say they are anxious to get the new system soon for fear the city will keep putting the old system back together with "spit and glue."
One firefighter said the new portable radios firefighters will eventually carry are still in boxes at fire headquarters on Perry Street.
"This whole process should have been done already," a firefighter said.
City spokesman Mike Walker confirmed the radio outage and said the fire department has had the same system for 20 years and the new system, a $4 million expenditure from the department's capital budget, should be online in about three weeks.
The system has failed in the past during storms, Walker said. "It's very rare to have a complete outage as long as this one."
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
Firefighters on the current shift Tuesday evening said the main radio system, with multiple channels, stopped working at about 6 p.m. Monday, forcing the department to resort to the backup.
With 11 companies talking on just one channel at fire calls, communications can be missed and firefighters say there are numerous safety issues by having only one line of communication with each other and dispatchers, two firefighters said. They asked that their names not be published.
One said he was forced to speak with a fire dispatcher via personal cell phone while on a fire call.
The department is scheduled to switch to a brand new radio system in the near future, one that was budgeted for two years ago.
Firefighters say they are anxious to get the new system soon for fear the city will keep putting the old system back together with "spit and glue."
One firefighter said the new portable radios firefighters will eventually carry are still in boxes at fire headquarters on Perry Street.
"This whole process should have been done already," a firefighter said.
City spokesman Mike Walker confirmed the radio outage and said the fire department has had the same system for 20 years and the new system, a $4 million expenditure from the department's capital budget, should be online in about three weeks.
The system has failed in the past during storms, Walker said. "It's very rare to have a complete outage as long as this one."
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
