EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT & FIRE
Emergency Management & Fire Director Jeff Luckey
attended the meeting and submitted his monthly report to the committee for
review. Mr. Luckey recently attended a Regional Fire Administrators Conference
in Montour Falls. He and Bonnie had also attended a special event training for
emergency managers in Hamburg.
Mr. Luckey talked about a recent incident in Clarksville
that required the collaboration of both fire and police departments. He said
that everyone worked well together but there were issues with their
communication equipment not working in that area. Portable radios did not have
service, which made it difficult to communicate. Mr. Luckey attended a meeting
in Clarksville (last night) to discuss the communication issues. Legislator
Graves asked if this is a new problem. Mr. Luckey stated that it’s not a new
problem. That particular location does not receive the necessary signals for
their communication equipment. The new radio tower will address some of the
problems, but it’s not operational yet. Mr. Luckey stated that members of our
County 911 department were in attendance at the meeting. It was a good
opportunity to discuss the issue. Legislator Barnes asked if the particular
location was a problem, or if it was a larger area that didn’t have good service.
Mr. Luckey said that Clarksville experiences problems because of the terrain
that exists in that area. Committee Chair Healy asked if these communication
problems are unique to Allegany County. Mr. Luckey stated that other counties
experience similar issues. Orleans County recently made a huge investment to
overcome communication issues.
Committee Chair Healy stated he had attended the Allegany
County Fire Advisory Board meeting on November 21. At the meeting the group
discussed the issue of priority of dispatch services. There have been concerns
voiced over establishing priority of dispatch. Legislator Healy reminded his
fellow legislators that they are invited to attend the Fire Advisory Board
meetings and their participation would be appreciated.
