Why the police emergency radio station didn't work

If you were wondering why the police station's emergency radio station didn't work during the August 14 blackout, there's now an explanation. The problems with the emergency station at 91.

If you were wondering why the police station's emergency radio station didn't work during the August 14 blackout, there's now an explanation.

The problems with the emergency station at 91.1 FM were acknowledged yesterday in a 'debriefing' report prepared after an evaluation of the local response to the blackout by the City's Emergency Control Group.

In an interview with SooToday.com, Police Chief Robert Davies said that the first difficulty encountered with the radio equipment is that when police tried to start it after blackout began, the battery was found to be dead.

That made it impossible to record a looped message for broadcast, so it was necessary to have a staff member stay at the microphone and read continuously, Chief Davies said.

Problems with hilly terrain

Further problems were encountered with the limited range of the low-power system.

The system is supposed to have a 10-kilometre range and it worked well over flat terrain, the Chief told SooToday.com in an interview.

But in hilly terrain, the signal often couldn't be received.

For example, nothing much could be heard by anyone living east of the hill on Second Line, he said.

Other problems noted during the debriefing included the need for back-up lights at major intersections and for local businesses to improve their back-up power systems and emergency staffing.

Follow-up is being done on all the difficulties, and corrections will be made as budgets allow.

The following is a news release issued by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service:

**************************************************************** Power outage - debriefing

Members of the Emergency Control Group who participated in the Emergency Operations Centre during the power outage in mid August met last week to review how the event was handled locally.

It was recognized that the situation could easily have been much more serious had we been experiencing severe weather or had the power loss been of greater duration.

This certainly was a test of most Y2K plans but under optimum conditions.

Although generally speaking the community functioned quite well, several issues were brought forward for discussion and remedy.

These issues included:

- Need for back-up lights/LED at major intersections - Limited range radius of emergency radio system 91.1 - Inadequate facilities for Emergency Operations Centre for extended emergency - Need for local facilities and businesses to improve back-up power systems, emergency staffing, and agreements with necessary suppliers in emergency situations - Adequate refrigeration of food items in public facilities - It is planned to make improvements in these areas through public education and upgrades as budgets allow.

The committee certainly recognizes that the community at large contributed greatly to the successful handling of the circumstances.

Most citizens took the situation in stride and assisted others wherever possible thereby reducing the work load of emergency personnel. The Emergency Control Group would also like to acknowledge the specific efforts of several organizations and individuals who significantly contributed during the outage.

A.R.E.S.

Lloyd Gibbs Bob Rayner ARES Team

ATS

Doug Powell

Bell

Ken Leask Ella Jean Richter Bill Crozier

Chippewa County Emergency Services

Tim McKee

Gilbertson’s Enterprises

Great Lakes Power

Andy McPhee

Groom Callahan