Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Radio Issues Continue for Starke County Firefighters

Posted on November 6, 2018
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI

The communications vendor for Starke County’s fire departments is still working on issues experienced with radio communications.

The company did replace an antenna in North Judson which has improved the signal for the Railroad Township Fire Department, but the communication issues are not quite resolved.

A few months ago, fire chiefs from several fire departments urged the commissioners to find a solution to the issue of firefighters unable to talk to each other on their radios and other fire departments. The Koontz Lake Fire Department and Hamlet Fire Department officials were hesitant to send firefighters into burning buildings because they couldn’t communicate with each other for safety reasons.

A lot of those issues have since improved.

J&K Communications is currently repairing the sirens at the Bass Lake Fire Department and the Railroad Township Fire Department in addition to reprogramming radios for some firefighters.

Until those repairs are done and other radio repairs are complete, the Starke County Commissioners agreed to hold an invoice the company submitted for over $23,000.

IT Director Richard Franks said since the invoice is being held he can get a better explanation of repairs done and expectations.

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