The volunteer firefighters at the Honeymoon Bay fire department could soon be getting new portable radios, at a cost of $18,000.
The Cowichan Valley Regional District’s electoral area services committee recommended to the board at its meeting on March 15 that the fire department’s old portable radios, with some of them having been in use for more than 25 years, be replaced.
A staff report by Robb Schoular, the CVRD’s fire rescue services coordinator, said the Honeymoon Bay fire department has experienced recent portable radio failures.
He said firefighter safety depends on effective radio communications.
“Two-way radio use for safety, operations, paging, dispatch and incident-scene management are a critical element in the firefighter’s tool kit,” Schoular said.
“The current portable radios in use at Honeymoon Bay have reached their end-of-life. The portable radios are no longer supported by the manufacturer with third-party batteries, and some replacement parts are becoming difficult to source.”
Schoular said the new portable radios that are being considered meet the operational requirements of the fire dispatch radio system, contain the necessary dual-tone multi frequency signaling, and use the latest battery-management technology, which increases battery life and operational capacity.
He said the new portable radios have an estimated life span of 15 to 20 years depending on use, and they will also prepare the department for the possibility of a digital conversion and expansion in the future.
“Failure to replace the portable radios at the fire department will result in increased costs over time as batteries and replacement parts are unable to be sourced or continue to be difficult to locate,” Schoular said.
“Firefighter safety may be jeopardized should a portable radio fail on the fireground. Replacement of the fire department’s portable radio inventory will bring modern radio communications capability to the department and increase the overall margin of safety.”
Ian Morrison, CVRD director for Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls which includes Honeymoon Bay, said it’s very important that local firefighters have up-to-date equipment, especially considering the vast leaps in technology that have taken place in recent years.
“Our firefighters need the best equipment that we can provide them,” he said.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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