Glynn County Train Trestle Fire

Location: Brunswick

http://www.news4jax.com/news/22845148/detail.html

I woke up this afternoon, turned on the radios and the first thing I heard was Glynn County FD F2 active with what sounded like a brush fire involving railroad cars. After a bit, I figured out that the incident was at Georgia Ports; I had to run out and do a few things anyway, so I drove down to US 17 near the ports and saw that the fire was a Train Trestle at Colonel's Island and some train cars on fire. It appeared that the flames were knocked down, but there was still a good bit of smoke. Glynn County FD was on scene and some Camden County units responded for mutual aid. Georgia Ports and Railroad representatives were also on scene. It looks like the integrity of the trestle and condition of the rails could be issues.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

McIntosh County 911 Center to Reopen

From WTOC News Story:
http://www.wtoc.com/Global/story.asp?S=12032839

McIntosh County 911 will be reopening their 911 Center later this year, probably in May. Named the Wiregrass E911 Center, it will provide 911 and dispatch for both McIntosh and Long counties according to this WTOC report. It will also contain an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Designed to survive storms, the building will have 12 inch thick reinforced walls that should survive 200 mph winds.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Effingham County VHF Fire/EMS Dispatch

Location: Savannah

Effingham County is no longer using the old 155.355 MHz repeater for initial dispatch of Fire/EMS calls. They are now using 158.7675 for initial dispatch. Currently I do not know a CTCSS tone for it, but I will pass it when I find out what it is.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Monitoring In Brunswick

I'm just about settled in Brunswick and I've had the chance to break out the scanners and do a bit of listening. I've been able to monitor some Fire/EMS traffic on the Glynn County TRS and some MilCom.

Listening to the Glynn County and Brunswick Fire Departments has been an adjustment. They use different terminology than I'm used to listening to from Chatham County and Savannah and they dispatch somewhat differently. I'd describe it, but I'm still in the process of getting a grip on it.

In the realm of MilCom, I've been able to catch some F/A-18s from Beaufort over the weekend and some JSTARS activity today. Monday is typically a slow day for Beaufort, so I haven't been able to ascertain how well I can hear the W-157 traffic (but it shouldn't be much of a problem). It is also worth noting that I heard some MARAUDER AH-64s from the SC ARNG working Townsend Range from I-95 at Exit 38 last week. Given the the AH-64s typically fly relatively low level, this could be a sign that there will be good listening to Townsend Range from here in Brunswick.

Stay Tuned, More to Come (Albeit it may be slowly...)

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Foam System Goes Off in Hangar at Hunter AAF

Hunter Crash/Fire is working an incident in which the foam system in a hangar went off. After consultations with Environmental, they are diluting the foam outside of the hangar with water and washing it down the storm drains. Communications are on TG 3504 of the Fort Stewart/Hunter AAF TRS. An aircraft was in the hangar, although damage is unknown. All personnel have been reported accounted for. The hangar is apparently Hangar 1130.

On 77.725, 224 MI Bn Ops, SUNNY OPS has told SUNNY 22 that the foam system went off in the "EW Hangar." SUNNY 22 inquired if an aircraft was still in the hangar and was told yes and that a hatch was open. Based on the context of the conversation, I'm guessing that the EW hangar is a 224 MI Bn hangar.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Bryan County TRS Frequencies

Yesterday, I noticed that someone had submitted talkgroup information to Radio Reference on the Bryan County TRS. Unfortunately, I cannot hear this system very well at home, so I don't have much info on it yet; that someone else is monitoring the system and sending in updates is wonderful. One thing, however, that I didn't see in the Radio Reference Database Entry was frequency information other than the 851.1125 control channel.

This morning I went to a location where I could hear the system well and heard 3 of the 4 submitted talkgroups and made a list of the frequencies I heard in use:

851.1125 - Control Channel (9600 baud)
852.375
852.625
853.1375

Note: for those that want to monitor this system, you need a newer trunktracking scanner that does both digital voice and can track a 9600 baud control channel. Older analog only trunktracking scanners will not work with this system.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Tronox Titanium Tetrachloride Leak

http://www.wtoc.com/Global/story.asp?S=10592265

This is a WTOC story on the HazMat Incident I sent a Twitter update out about late last night. Numerous Savannah Fire units responded and they used Fireground 1 (TG 36976) and Fireground 3 (TG 37040). CEMA units also responded using TG 12496, which was a digital talkgroup.

Apparently, Savannah Fire's boat, MARINE 1, does not monitor Marine VHF while on the river. During the incident, a ship passed through the vapor cloud and was trying to contact the "small boat with red emergency lights" on Marine VHF Ch. 16 and Ch. 13 with no apparent answer. It is surprising that MARINE 1 would not be monitoring at least one of those channels.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Already a Change in the Bryan County TRS

I found an interesting change in the Bryan County TRS this morning. I've not heard anything on 866.1125 the last couple of days, so I ran a search and came across a 9600 baud control channel on 851.1125. Lo and behold, it has the same System ID that was coming across on 866.1125. I even heard one of the TGs (5008) that I was hearing off of 866.1125.

Running a search on 851.1125, I found that it is licensed to Nextel (expires in 2010):
http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=1935158

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

866.1125 P25 Control Channel

A week or so ago, I picked up a 9600 baud Motorola Control Channel in Pembroke on 866.1125. I have not been able to find any information on it in the FCC database. This afternoon I picked up a control channel on it again that seems to be coming from the Richmond Hill area. Based on what little I've heard, I'm going to guess that they are the long awaited Bryan County TRS. When I was in the Pembroke area, I could not get the BC-396 to read a site ID off of the control channel. Today, it was reading the site ID off of the signal I believe to be coming from Richmond Hill as 02C5H-0101. So far I have not seen or heard any talkgroup activity.

Savannah Radio Hobbyists - It looks like we've got a new radio system to figure out!

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

kf4lmt@comcast.net

Life Star News

Back on 14 September 2008, I posted about hearing Life Star work through a different dispatch center on the weekends. I recently confirmed that they are no longer dispatched by "Life Star Base" through Med Star Dispatch. They are being dispatched by OmniFlight, their parent company. They are still using 426.975, seemingly through a Motobridge to OmniFlight's east Communications Center in Kennesaw, GA. The callsign for dispatch is simply "RADIO." There is still traffic on frequency between Life Star and Memorial ER.

Additionally, if anyone is interested in what the OCC number is that Life Star needs for each mission, OmniFlight's website has a link about their Operations Control Center.

Effingham County is attempting to land Life Star's base from it's current location at Savannah International Airport. From the Effingham Herald on 10 November 2008:

The LifeStar air ambulance still isn’t cleared for landing at a new home in Effingham County.

County commissioners tabled a lease agreement with OmniFlight Helicopters, the Addison, Texas-based company that operates the LifeStar service, last Tuesday. Commissioners are expected to revisit the issue Nov. 18, but some are getting antsy that the delay may mean Effingham will lose out on landing the service.

The full text of the article can be found here.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

kf4lmt@comcast.net

Savannah Fire and Emergency Services Engine 16?

On Friday, my father reported hearing Savannah Fire and Emergency Services operating an ENGINE 16. From what he heard it could possibly be operating on the westside of the city limits.

Has anyone else heard ENGINE 16 or does anyone have any information on where it may be operating out of?

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

SCMPD Precinct Realignment

SCMPD has realigned their precincts effective today. The most noticeable change is the elimination of Precinct 6 (Skidaway), which has been absorbed into Precinct 5 (Islands). Additionally, some precinct boundaries have been moved.

From the SCMPD news release:

• All neighborhood boundaries are honored with no neighborhood split between precincts
• New boundaries take into consideration geographic and traffic limitations
• Deployment of officers will more closely match the workload
• Liberty City area goes from Central Precinct to West Chatham Precinct
• West Savannah shifts from West Chatham precinct to Downtown Precinct (where it previously existed before the merger)
• Skidaway and Islands Precincts are merged
• The West Chatham Precinct will eventually be relocated to a more appropriate location, most likely in theh Ogeechee Road corridor

The news release, along with links to Precinct Maps can be found on the SCMPD website.

What does this mean for the radio hobbyist? Probably not much. I would guess that the radio channels will remain the same, because the two precincts that were merged were already using the same radio channel.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Note: All of the above is from open source material available in the public domain. Information on the precincts was obtained from the SCMPD website and background on the radio channels is available at the Radioreference website.

LifeStar and Omni Flight

Over the last few weekends, I've noticed something interesting on the repeater used by LifeStar One, the medevac helicopter at Memorial Hospital here in Savannah, GA. During the weekends, I've been hearing LifeStar working their communications through OMNI FLIGHT on the 462.975 repeater instead of LIFE STAR BASE.

My educated guess is that OMNI FLIGHT is the Omni Flight Communications center in Kennesaw, GA. It sounds like they are probably routing communications through that comm center via a Motobridge.

I've also been hearing other medevac helicopters (which I've not ID'd yet) over the repeater as well on missions that have nothing to do with Memorial. Band conditions at the times weren't conducive to UHF skip either. I am guessing that the traffic from these other helicopters is also coming across the Motobridge I mentioned above.

I've sent a post to the Scan Savannah and Scan Atlanta yahoo groups, so hopefully more will come of this. It will definitely be interesting to follow and see where it goes.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Severe Storms Hammer the East Side of Savannah and Chatham County

Thursday afternoon I was enjoying some quality monitoring time on my day off. The return of the the VMFA-312 "Checks" to the air and some JSTARS activity nearby was making for an interesting monitoring day. Shortly after 1400 local I began hearing thunder to the north, so I checked the weather radar; a storm was brewing up around the Georgia/South Carolina border near the Port Wentworth area. Even though the storm didn't seem to have much motion on the radar, I went ahead and disconnected my gear to prevent lightning damage. No worries, I sat down with the latest issue of Road and Track magazine (there are two wonderful Sam Posey articles this month, check out my motorsports blog soon on those!) to wait for the delivery of the AT-897 tuner and MFJ 1764 antenna I ordered earlier this week.

When UPS delivered the package around 1500, I noticed that the skies here in east Savannah were darkening and a few minutes later it began sprinkling. It was almost time to go to Rincon to pick up my nephew from his father's house, so I began getting ready to go. As we left the house, the tornado warning sirens began going off so we checked 162.400, the local NOAA weather radio station, and heard the first Tornado Warning going off. As we drove out of town, I locked the 2-meter radio in my father's truck on the 146.970 repeater, reporting hail we encountered at I-516 and the Southwest Bypass over the repeater and via cell phone to the National Weather Service in Charleston. It was raining so hard while I was reporting the hail, that I couldn't understand much of what the NWS were saying on the other end!

As we drove west out of Savannah, the weather cleared and improved but it rapidly became apparent from traffic we were monitoring on our scanners and from what other amateurs were reporting on the repeater that the areas around Sandfly, Whitfield Avenue, and Ferguson Avenue had taken a hard hit from the storm, possibly even from a tornado (although I haven't seen this confirmed by the news or the NWS yet). Kurt, N4CVF, was reporting numerous trees down and road blockage on Ferguson as he tried to make his way home; Southside Fire's Montgomery Division radio traffic supported Kurt's observations. They were working a multitude of downed trees, power lines, and vehicle crashes. Guy, K4GTM, reported traffic backups, trees down, and serious damage as he approached his home in the Sandfly area. Luckily, Guy's home avoided serious damage but his neighbor was not so lucky. Their house was comprehensively damaged by falling trees. Traffic from Southside Fire and Isle of Hope Fire further indicated more damage along Whitfield and farther along Skidaway towards Isle of Hope. Likewise, Thunderbolt Fire was also busy handling calls of trees and power lines down in their city. I later began hearing radio traffic that the county water system on Isle of Hope was out.

We made it back home from Rincon to find the power out. After clearing out debris from the roads in front and alongside the house and from the yard I drove over to Guy's neighborhood to see if I could lend a hand. By the time I got there, the neighborhood had put out an all hands effort to clear the roads and were working to remove a tree from the neighbor's house with a John Deere tractor and chainsaws. The Red Cross was en route with food, water, and other assistance, so at that point there was not much I could do. I spoke with Guy and Bill, K4WP, for a few minutes, offering any assistance that they might need; I then returned home so that I and the car wouldn't be in the way of equipment that would be needed to remove all of the debris.

By this time, ARES and Red Cross volunteers had begun using the 146.970 repeater for assessment, relief, and recovery operations. K3SRC, the Red Cross ham station along with K4SDJ, Steve, W4SWJ, Susanne, and others were on the air coordinating the response. On my way home, I reported some traffic bottlenecks on Skidaway to K3SRC and let them know that one of their units was almost to their staging area at the Piggly Wiggly on Skidaway. After checking in with work to make sure I wasn't needed, I monitored the 146.970 and began to hear about some of the damage. In addition to what I had witnessed in Guy's neighborhood, there were also heavily damaged mobile homes in some of the mobile home parks in the Whitfield area. Luckily, I heard no reports of injuries from any of the damaged homes. Hopefully that will be the case across the affected area.

Throughout the entire time I was monitoring, I was proud to hear how hams were reacting to the aftermath of the storm. I can't remember all of those I heard offering assistance but N4RVM and WD8LUL were two that immediately jump to mind. There were offers to help clear the trees, offers to help the neighbors, and offers of batteries and other equipment to help keep Guy on the air.

It is impossible to include a comprehensive list of what I all I was listening to during the afternoon, because often I wasn't looking at the radio display. I was paying more attention to the weather and to the amateur radio traffic. That said, here is a certainly incomplete listing of active talkgroups. You'll quickly note that I was mostly monitoring the fire departments to keep up with tree/power situations.

Fort Stewart/Hunter AAF TRS
TG 3504 - Hunter AAF Crash/Fire

Chatham/Effingham TRS
TG 3568 - Metro Fire Dispatch (and associated Tac TGs)
TG 3824 - Southside Fire Dispatch (and associated Division TGs)
TG 4880 - Thunderbolt FD
TG 5040 - Garden City FD
TG 5424 - Pooler FD
TG 5456 - Pooler FD
TG 6224 - CEMA 1
TG 6640 - ANG/Savannah IAP Crash/Fire
TG 7760 - Isle of Hope FD
TG 36880 - Savannah Fire Dispatch (and associated Fireground TGs)
TG 36912 - Savannah Fire Admin


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Hurricane Monitoring 2008

This article initially appeared in the June 2008 of "Key Klix," the newsletter of the Amateur Radio Club of Savannah. It is designed to provide basic local huricane monitoring information for the Savannah area.

With Hurricane Season upon us, it is a good time to gather monitoring information on monitoring communications related to the response to a storm. The purpose of this month’s article is to provide some basic hurricane monitoring information for both Savannah area amateur radio and government response to a hurricane. Many thanks to David Delamater, K4DJD, Steve Jonas, K4SDJ, and Doug Rowland, KF4EFP for providing amateur radio frequency information for this article.

Amateur Radio Monitoring

In the event of a hurricane, Amateur Radio would of course play a large part in the response to the storm. Georgia Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) would activate to support state and local emergency management. Other organizations would activate to respond to the hurricane in other capacities.

ARES, when activated will use several 2-meter repeaters for local area, point-to-point traffic. HF frequencies would be used for more long distant communications including communications with statewide ARES and emergency management stations.

146.970 - Chatham County ARES Ops Primary
146.880 - Chatham ARES Ops Secondary
147.105 - Georgia ARES Southeast District Ops
146.745 - Effingham County Repeater (97.4 PL)
146.520 - National Calling Frequency

3.975 LSB - Georgia ARES Primary HF
7.277 LSB - Georgia ARES Secondary HF
5.3305 LSB - Georgia ARES Section Emergency Net

The American Red Cross will also make use of local repeaters during their hurricane response operations. Secondary Red Cross Repeaters will be assigned usage depending upon the nature and size of the response.

146.850 - American Red Cross Primary
146.700 - American Red Cross Secondary
147.210 - American Red Cross Secondary
147.330 - American Red Cross Secondary

Other organizations that might activate to assist in response and relief efforts are the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network and Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief teams.

7.265 LSB - SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network)
14.265 USB - SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network)

151.625 - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief (VHF Itinerant)
147.550 - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief
147.555 - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief
3.865 LSB - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief
7.238 LSB - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief
7.251 LSB - South CARS Net
7.262 LSB - Southern Baptist Convention Net

A good way to keep track of and to gather information on a hurricane is the venerable Hurricane Watch Net, which has been around since 1965. This net will activate whenever there is a hurricane within 300 miles of a populated land mass or when activation is requested by the National Hurricane Center. The purpose of the net is to gather information from the storm for the National Hurricane Center and to pass on National Weather Service advisories on the storm. Information on hurricanes can also be heard on the Maritime Mobile Network. They also collect information for the National Weather Service and pass weather service advisories.

14.325 USB - Hurricane Watch Net
14.300 USB - Maritime Mobile Network


Government Monitoring

Local public safety agencies would be in the front lines of hurricane response. A listing of agency frequencies and Chatham-Effingham Trunked Repeater System (TRS) talkgroups would be too long to list here, but there are emergency management, mutual aid, and common frequencies and talkgroups that would be good to include in scanner programming. These would be used by a wide variety of agencies during any multi-agency response. A full listing of agency talkgroups for the Chatham-Effingham TRS can be found on the Radio Reference website (see list of links below).

Conventional Frequencies
123.025 - Airborne Operations, Air-to-Ground
123.100 - Airborne Operations, Air-to-Air
154.280 - Fire Mutual Aid
155.340 - HEAR (Hospitals, EMS)
155.475 - Law Enforcement National Emergency
853.6375 - Chatham County 800 Conventional
866.0125 - I-Call
866.5125 - I-Tac 1
867.0125 - I-Tac 2
867.5125 - I-Tac 3
868.0125 - I-Tac 4

Chatham-Effingham TRS Talkgroups
6224 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 1
6256 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 2
6288 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 3
6320 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 4
6352 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 5

33456 - Police Common
54032 – Police Common Digital
37072 - Fire Common
3632 – Fire Tac 1
3664 – Fire Tac 2
3696 – Fire Tac 3
3728 – Fire Tac 4
3760 – Fire Tac 5
3792 – Fire Tac 6
2416 - Medical Common
50320 - Savannah City Common
50352 - Chatham County Countywide Common
1648 - Chatham County Common
4240 - Chatham County Westside Common
4272 - Chatham County Eastside Common

Both Hunter Army Airfield and Savannah International Airport and the military units based there would be involved in relief operations in the event of a hurricane striking the coastal Georgia area. B-169 Aviation of the Georgia Army National Guard at Hunter AAF would likely support local operations while the 165th Airlift Wing at Savannah IAP would be able to help provide an air bridge for the Savannah area. The United States Coast Guard would also assist in the response to a hurricane with both aircraft from Air Station Savannah and surface assets from Sector Charleston and it’s subordinate unit Station Tybee (and beyond).

133.550 AM – Hunter AAF Control Tower
279.575 AM – Hunter AAF Control Tower
126.200 AM – Hunter AAF Base Ops
38.150 FM – B-169 AVN “Hurricane Ops”
139.400 AM – B-169 AVN “Guard Operations”
242.400 AM – B-169 AVN Air-to-Air

119.100 AM - Savannah IAP Control Tower
257.800 AM - Savannah IAP Control Tower
225.750 AM - 165 Airlift Wing, Georgia Air National Guard Command Post
237.000 AM - Air National Guard CRTC Command Post

156.800 – Marine VHF Ch. 16, Calling/Distress
156.650 – Marine VHF Ch. 13
157.050 – Marine VHF Ch. 21, Sector Charleston Primary Operating
345.000 AM - USCG Air Station Savannah Ops

Charleston Air Force Base is involved in relief operations not only nationwide but worldwide. Aircraft inbound to Charleston AFB from the south can easily be heard from the Savannah area.

134.100 AM - Charleston AFB Command Post
349.400 AM - Charleston AFB Command Post

Another agency that would support hurricane response efforts would the United States Air Force auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol. The Civil Air Patrol is in the midst of frequency changes, so it would be prudent to keep both their old and new frequencies in mind. The CAP also uses repeater output frequencies as simplex frequencies.

148.150 - Civil Air Patrol Primary Repeater Output
148.125 - Civil Air Patrol Repeater, Coastal Georgia Area

148.175 - New Civil Air Patrol Repeaters
148.775 - New Civil Air Patrol Repeaters


There are many lists on the Internet that list HF frequencies for the “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft. For the most part, these lists are obsolete; the “Hurricane Hunters” now use satellite communications, including military SATCOM, instead of HF for their primary means of communications with ground stations.



Reference Links
Georgia ARES:
http://www.gaares.org/

SATERN (Salvation Army):
http://www.satern.org/

Hurricane Watch Net:
http://www.hwn.org/

Maritime Mobile Service Network:
http://www.mmsn.org/

Radio Reference:
http://www.radioreference.com/


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Southside Fire Station 14

I finally have had a chance to find out what Station Number the new Southside Fire Station on Elba Island has; it is Station 14. I was able to catch SSFD's morning radio checks today and hear them do a radio check with Station 14/Engine 14. No doubt this is the new station and Engine that will cover the area that Southside recently took over from Savannah Fire.

I wonder if they have skipped Station 13 for reasons of superstition or if there is another station expansion planned?

In regards to Elba Island, it was recently reported in the Savannah Morning News that El Paso LNG and the City of Savannah have come to an agreement in which Savannah Fire will continue responding to the Elba Island facility. I can't help but think that, from the public safety perspective, they have come to the most common sense decision.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Mothers Day Morning Storm Monitoring

Thankfully, Savannah and Chatham County were spared the worst of the storms and Tornados that moved through southeast Georgia on Mother's Day morning. Compared to the Tornados that struck to the south and northwest of Savannah, I only heard a few dispatches for lightning strike fires and some downed power lines.

As the thunderstorms moved in, I disconnected all of my outside antennas and monitored using portable scanners only. I used the BC396 to monitor CEMA 1 (TG 6224) on the Chatham-Effingham TRS. CEMA 1 was an excellent way to keep apprised of what was going on; the CEMA staff were using it pass reports on what was going on within Chatham County. With one radio locked on CEMA 1, the old BC250 was used to scan Chatham County public safety.

No formal Skywarn Nets were established in the area, but amateur radio operators were on the 146.970 repeater in Savannah and the 146.745 repeater in Springfield passing weather observations and other storm information. As mentioned above, the outside antennas were disconnected, so I used crossband repeat and portables to monitor the repeaters. A Yaesu FT-50 was used to crossband through the Yaesu FT-8800 for the Springfield repeater because it is out of portable range at home. The Yaesu VX-150 was sufficient for getting into the 146.970.

Mac McCormick III
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Reflections on the Imperial Sugar Refinery After Action Report

The Chatham Emergency Management Agency has released their After Action Report (AAR) for the Imperial Sugar Refinery Explosion; it can be found in .pdf form at http://www.chathamemergency.org/docs/AAR%20Full%20Size.pdf

The AAR should be read by amateur radio operators interested in emergency communications; there are some important lessons learned to be digested. Radio Monitoring hobbyists interested in public safety communications may want to read it as well, as it covers communications issues that could impact our area's communications plans in the future.


Communications
ESF #2 Statement of Issue 1 addresses the problems of interagency communications. Although many of the responding units utilize the Chatham-Effingham TRS, some responders such as those from South Carolina and some outlying Coastal Georgia counties do not use that system. As a result, direct communications between units and Incident Command were sometimes problematic. Although it is possible to relay communications through a command post with multiple radios, that process can cause hazardous delays that could compromise safety. When operating in a hazardous situation such as the one at the sugar refinery, it is necessary for units to talk directly to each other rather than wait for relays between multiple frequency bands.

This should be less of a problem in the future due to the grant for public safety communications improvements that I recently posted about; plans are in the works to expand the communications network along the coast, allowing for greater interoperability. The explosion highlighted the need for the work to go forward. In regards to the South Carolina responders, the radio system they use is compatible with the radio system used here; common talkgroups (such as fire, law enforcement, and medical common talkgroups) could be programmed into radios. Another solution could be the use of an interoperability system such as a Motobridge. A Motobridge could alleviate these problems as well, but there would be delay in setup. There would be a shorter delay in setting up a permanently sited Motobridge or a longer one in deploying and setting up a temporary Motobridge.

This is of particular interest to the public safety monitoring hobbyist. It could have a direct impact on what we listen to and how we listen to it.


Incident Command System
ESF #5 Statement of Issue 1 addresses knowledge of and use of the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). CEMA recommends that principles of the ICS be adhered to in all incidents. CEMA states that more than 1200 hours of ICS Level 300 and 400 training have been conducted. There are only a few agencies here that use the ICS on a regular basis on practically all of their operations. If agencies aren't practicing the ICS on regular, single agency incidents, how can they be expected to apply ICS principles on a major, multiple agency incidents. Classroom training and a couple of exercises a year cannot result in the same level of fluency that regular use of the ICS system can.

ESF #5 Statement of Issue 2 addresses the Chatham County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The Chatham EOC and the CEMA administrative offices are not co-located. The EOC is at the County Annex and the administrative offices are downtown. CEMA recommends that their offices should be located with the EOC as soon as funds and facilities become available. Funds and Facilities should be made available by the county now, before Hurricane Season is here.

ESF #5 Statement of Issue 3 addresses how units "self dispatched" themselves to the scene and how their was no Incident Command to coordinate. They recommend that an Incident Commander should establish a Unified Command to alleviate the problems caused by the inflow of those units. There is no doubt that a Unified Command is needed, but units should also not "self dispatch" themselves to the scene. The street has to work both ways; the Unified Command must be established but the units must wait until requested and work with the Unified Command.

ICS Problems had a follow on effect onto other aspects of the response. Resources (ESF #7) were impacted by the ICS Problems; the lack of a Unified Command resulted in some needed resources being turned away from the scene. Ingress/Egress and Staging (under ESF #13) were impacted by the same issues; lack of communication between Fire and Law Enforcement combined with self dispatched units restricted the single ingress/egress corridor and hampered asset staging. This is why the amateur radio community needs to be familiar with the ICS and that amateur radio operators wanting to participate in emergency communications need to take the NIMS courses. The amateur radio community cannot be a weak link in the chain; in order to fit into the response, amateur radio operators need a working knowledge of ICS so that they know why things are going on around them and how they fit into the overall plan.

The AAR also addresses time limits on Incident Command and General Staff shifts. They correctly state that fatigue from extended shifts "impairs ones judgement and can expose emergency personnel to excessive danger." This must also apply to amateur radio operators taking part in emergency communications. From personnel experience during Hurricane Floyd, I know that long hours can reduce ones effectiveness. Rotating operators and making sure operators get rest will eliminate mistakes. Mistakes can not only embarrass the amateur radio community and damage it's reputation, they can put others in dangerous and harmful situations.


External Affairs
ESF #15, Statement of Issue 1 addresses the release of information regarding the incident. There were problems with incorrect information being released and information be released prematurely. The Pubic Information Officer and his/her delegates should be the only ones releasing information, no one else (not even elected officials!)

This relates to both the amateur radio operator and the public safety monitoring hobbyist. Amateur Radio Operators should be careful of what they say over the air and what they say off the air in regards to what could be considered sensitive information regarding an incident. Be careful of what you say, the information may not be intended for public consumption at the time. Likewise, the monitoring hobbyist should be careful what they say about what they are hearing and when they say it. Radio traffic may sometimes be inaccurate and incomplete; keep this in mind before talking about what you hear and making judgements on what you hear.


Air Operations
CEMA recommends the activation of the Air Support Operations Center (ASOC) during future incidents such as this. The ASOC is a mobile command and control center operated by members of the Chatham County Aviation Division. The public safety monitoring hobbyist should plan to search and scan aviation frequencies during future exercises and incidents. CEMA has also come to agreements with local helicopter owners and operators to fill in when the local, state, federal, and military aviation assets are unavailable.


I would like to stress that the above opinions are purely my own. The do not reflect the opinions of amateur radio clubs, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, or anyone else.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

CEMA Issues Imperial Sugar Refinery Explosion After Action Report

I was working on a post about CEMA's After Action Report for the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion with hopes of posting it tonight. A power outtage that caused the file to disappear has delayed those plans. Having to start typing from scratch, I hope to get it up some time tomorrow afternoon or evening.

In the meantime, you can find the After Action Report here. It is a docmument that Amateur Radio Operators interested in Emergency Communications and the radio hobbyist interested in public safety monitoring should read.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

$20 Million in Public Safety Grants Awarded to Georgia

Chatham County Emergency Management Agency Press Release

Savannah, GA – April 9, 2008

Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that $20 million will be released for Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) grants for local first responders so to improve emergency communications and coordination during natural and man-made disasters.

The PSIC grant program will assist first responders in acquiring and deploying communication systems that are interoperable among all local response agencies. The grants will also provide training for local first responders in the usage of this improved communication system.

“These awards will assist our state’s first responders during critical moments when communications are essential to protecting the citizens of Georgia,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “The PSIC grant will increase our ability to communicate effectively and save lives across the state.”

Georgia Emergency Management Agency requested the PSIC grant in December of 2007 and grants have been designated to Chatham County Information and Communications Services for distribution to Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn and Liberty counties and the city of Savannah to enhance the Southeast Georgia Regional Radio Network (SEGARRN); to the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office and Coastal Network jurisdictions to expand SEGARNN; to Troup County for Troup and Harris counties and Columbus Consolidated Government to improve the West-Central Georgia Regional Radio System (WCGRRS); to Carroll County for upgrades to the Western Area Regional Radio System (WARRS); and to the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office for Catoosa, Walker and Dade counties to improve the Northwest Georgia Interoperable Communications Network (NWGIC).

“It is critical for first responders from different jurisdictions and agencies to have the proper tools and equipment available when they respond to an incident,” said Georgia Emergency Management Agency – Homeland Security Director Charley English. “The PSIC grant approval enhances our state’s communications capabilities.”