Talk radio: Lynn FD upgrades system

LYNN – When the Fire Department’s new radio system goes into operation today, firefighters from other communities rushing to Lynn to provide mutual aid will be able to talk directly to commanders at the fire scene.Under the previous system, outside companies had to rely on Lynn Fire Alarm dispatchers for direction and communication. The only exceptions were the Nahant and Swampscott fire departments because they are already dispatched to emergencies by Lynn Fire Alarm.Lynn Fire Capt. Joseph Carritte, who supervised the technological upgrade, said the radio network with its strategically sited antennae, will allow all 33 communities in Metro Fire District 13 – those towns and cities surrounding Lynn and others west and south of Boston – to talk directly to one another.The improvements recommended by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were paid for with a $1.2 million regional Assistance to Firefighter Grant, which included Saugus, Malden and Melrose. The latter three communities have completed the transition.According to Carritte, every Lynn Fire Department engine and ladder truck has been equipped with an ultra-high frequency (UHF) mobile radio and every firefighter and officer working in the city with a portable hand-held radio.Lynn was able to make the change from phone lines to fiber-optic cables without starting from scratch because the School Department already had invested in a fiber-optic trunk line.”Once operational, we will save about $10,000 a year in fees by not having to depend on certain telephone lines,” Carritte said. “We’ll use the School Department’s fiber-optic backbone.”Fire Chief Dennis Carmody said the department annually rented phone lines from Verizon to connect five radio towers to Lynn Fire Alarm.”With the School Department fiber-optics, we were able to piggyback on their project. That’s where the savings come in,” he said.The new radio system is also boosted by the primary antenna at the Wayne Alarm building on Essex Street and four remote repeaters that improve the signal.Radios have varying power strengths, from a 10-watt hand-held portable to a 25-watt mobile unit in the fire apparatus to the 40-watt base models at Fire Alarm. The higher wattage radios have stronger signals.As Carritte explained, without help from repeaters, a firefighter in West Lynn with a hand-held radio could not talk to another firefighter with a similar radio in East Lynn.”The topography of the city, with all the trees and hills, tends to block signals. But with the new antennae sites, we can talk anywhere in the city on a portable,” he said. “It’s far more efficient because we don’t have to rely on phone lines, some of which are 100 years old. If they break, or somebody knocks down a pole, or the weather is bad, it might mean we can’t communicate.”Besides, many phone companies are switching from telephone lines to fiber-optic cable, which can translate to slackened phone line maintenance. Fiber-optic technology is faster because it takes advantage of the speed of light. A so-called MOX box at one end of the line converts an electrical signal to a light beam or pulse. At the other end, another MOX box converts it back into an electrical signal. It all takes seconds, Carritte said.Deputy Fire Chief James McDonald said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is pushing the concept of interoperability, in which fire and police departments, and other government agencies can all communicate on a shared frequency. The new radios have many more channels than the older models, although they are similar in appearance – what firefighters call “a brick” because of the hand-held model’s size and weight.”Eventually we will be able to talk firehouse to firehouse and to the other city agencies through the intranet,” McDonald said.Carmody said Lynn was the host community in applying for the “quad grant” for the four communities and later allowed Nahant and Swampscott to join the initiative because of their established relationship wit