Agency Monitoring Profile: Savannah Fire and Emergency Services

I originally wrote this article for the September issue of Key Klix, the newsletter of the Amateur Radio Club of Savanah. It is not meant to be an in-depth look at monitoring Savannah Fire, but more as a basic overview of the agency and how to monitor them effectively.

Savannah Fire and Emergency Services is among the busiest fire department in this area and certainly the most interesting one to listen to. Savannah Fire makes extensive use of radio communications in their firefighting operations. Listening to them, you learn that there is more to firefighting than just putting water on a fire. Savannah Fire also utilizes the Incident Command System (ICS) that Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) has been putting heavy emphasis on in recent years. Listening to Savannah Fire’s use of ICS can be helpful in learning how the ICS works. Furthermore, Savannah Fire is one of the more entertaining scanning targets in this area.

Savannah Fire uses the Chatham-Effingham TRS for the majority of their communications along with a UHF conventional repeater. Dispatches are multicast on one of the TRS talkgroups and the UHF repeater with dispatch using the callsign “SAVANNAH FIRE.” The dispatches can be easily monitored using a conventional scanner or amateur radio gear with extended receive capability by programming in 453.925 (DCS of 315). In order to keep unit-to-unit traffic off of the dispatch channel and keep it clear for incident dispatches, they utilize an “Admin” talkgroup for administrative traffic. Once units are dispatched to an incident, they are directed to go to one of three “Fireground” channels; units respond to the incident on the fireground channel and conduct all further incident related communications on it unless they are directed to another channel. All fire departments on the TRS have access to the Fire Common talkgroup, which is used for multiple agency and mutual aid type responses. Savannah Fire makes heavy use of radio during their responses. Each fire station is equipped with base station radios. Each apparatus is equipped with a mobile radio; they are manned by three to four firefighters who are each equipped with a portable radio. Of all the fire departments in the Savannah area, you will probably hear the most tactical firefighting traffic from Savannah Fire.

Talkgroup ID Name
36880 - Dispatch
36912 - Admin
36976 - Fireground 1
37008 - Fireground 2
37040 - Fireground 3
37072 - Fire Common

A typical response for a structure fire will be 3 engine companies, a truck (ladder) company, a rescue squad, a battalion chief, and a safety officer. If these units aren’t sufficient, the incident commander will request a task force that can consist of an additional engine, truck, and squad (or a different combination if request by the commander). A typical response to a vehicle accident where extrication may be needed is one engine company, one rescue squad, and a safety officer (the respective Battalion Chief will sometimes send himself on the call). Other responses may vary on exactly what types of units are needed on scene.

Savannah Fire and Emergency Services has used “plain english” dispatch, which Savannah Chatham Metropolitan PD has recently switched to, for several years. You will hear very few codes or signals used on frequency and talkgroups above. Exceptions are response codes; Code 2 is used for a no lights and siren response (typically used by secondary units on alarm responses) and Code 3 is used for lights and siren responses.

Savannah Fire’s unit numbering system, for the most part, is based on what station the unit is based at. ENGINE 1 and TRUCK 1, for instance, are based out of Station 1. Rescue Squads are an exception to this rule. Savannah Fire has two Rescue units; RESCUE 1 is based out of Station 3 and RESCUE 2 is based out of Station 7. There are also three Battalion Chiefs that respond to incidents and usually assume incident command; their callsigns are BATTALION 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Hazardous Materials (Haz Mat) units are based out of Station 6. MARINE 1 (not to be confused with Savannah Chatham Marine Patrol’s MARINE # units) is Savannah Fire’s multi-purpose boat that is tied up at the city dock on River Street; it does not have a permanent crew but it manned by one of the downtown units when activated.

Station Number Location
Station 1 - 535 E 63rd St.
Station 2 - 5 Skyline Dr.
Station 3 - 121 E. Oglethorpe Ave.
Station 4 - 2401 Augusta Ave.
Station 5 - 6 W. Henry St.
Station 6 - 3000 Liberty Pkwy.
Station 7 - 6902 Sallie Mood Dr.
Station 8 - 2824 Bee Rd.
Station 9 - 1943 Capital St.
Station 10 - 13710 Coffee Bluff Rd.
Station 11 - 931 Mohawk St.
Station 13 - McKenna Ave. @ Airways Blvd.
Station 14 - Benton Blvd. area
Station 15 - US 17/Canebrake area

Part of the Georgia Search and Rescue (GSAR) Coastal Task Force is based with Savannah Fire and Emergency Services. Of the two heavy rescue units in the Coastal Task Force, one is stationed at Savannah Fire’s Station 6. Even though the apparatus and equipment are stationed with Savannah Fire, task force personnel come from numerous local departments.

Savannah Fire and Emergency Services has also worked with amateur radio operators in the past. In 1999, Savannah Fire requested and received assistance from ARES to perform backup communications in the event that their radio system was disabled by Y2K problems. Temporary amateur radio stations were set up at each fire station with the ability to operate through the 146.970 repeater or directly by simplex if the need be. Rather than celebrating the New Year as many did, volunteer amateur radio operators spent their new year at the fire stations providing a public service.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net