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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

to the benefit of all

New radio system to allow Penhold Fire Dep’t better communication on mutual aid calls

Oct 27, 2023 | 10:05 AM

Penhold’s volunteer fire department is getting a major upgrade, and ahead of schedule.

This week, town council approved funding to purchase the last of a slate of radios, meaning the fire department can now fully implement the Alberta First Responder Radio Communications System (AFRRCS).

The system allows full access for mutual aid agreements, both in and out of Penhold, explains Protective Services Manager and Fire Chief Sean Pendergast.

“On our now old VHF radios, the frequency and capability is such that if we go outside the town boundary, we don’t have communications at all. This means that our members can’t get communications if they’re shopping in Gasoline Alley, for example,” says Pendergast. “The main benefit of this new digital system though is we’re now able to have mutual aid communications with Red Deer County, the City and Innisfail.”

The benefits include for when mutual aid is called into Penhold, so the local fire department can let those coming to help know where to go or what is required.

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The Government of Alberta also operates the sites where transmissions go through for AFRRCS, so it’s no longer a maintenance item for the Town, Pendergast adds.

Pendergast says the department’s lack of AFRRCS hasn’t led to negative outcomes, but there have been gaps.

“Recently we responded to a mutual aid call in Innisfail, and not only did we not have appropriate radios to connect with them until we arrived, but as soon as we left the town boundary and were on the highway, we had no way to communicate with dispatch in Red Deer,” he says.

The system costs $150,000 and was scheduled to be purchased over two years. Instead it’s possible to get done in just one year after the Town received an influx of reimbursement dollars from Alberta and Northwest Territories because of its assistance with fighting wildfires earlier this year.

Pendergast says the department aided with about eight out of region wildfires this year, and that’s on top of the average 10-15 mutual aid calls it’s part of annually.

The same reimbursement money is helping purchase $10,000 pneumatic lifting bags which assist firefighters in lifting heavy vehicles off of trapped victims, and to brace unstable loads.

“We’ve never had the bags before. What they are good for is if you need to lift extremely heavy things and only have a tight space, it can squeeze in and lift up to 80 tons using compressed air,” says Pendergast. “It’s quick deployment and effective. Our current workaround without bags was to use hydraulic spreaders, kind of like the ‘jaws of life’, however they don’t work with soft ground underneath and aren’t as safe or stable.”

Pendergast says they’ll be looking replace self-contained breathing apparatus by the end of 2025.

READ MORE

• Clearwater Regional Fire Rescue Services getting new equipment
• The other end of the line: Appreciating Red Deer Emergency dispatchers