Hundreds of first responders attend forum on Washington Co.鈥檚 new emergency radio system
More than 200 firefighters, police officers and paramedics from across Washington County packed into South Franklin鈥檚 fire hall Wednesday night to learn more about the county鈥檚 new emergency radio system, with many coming away from the meeting encouraged while others still had questions about how it could impact their operations.
The two-hour meeting briefly touched on a variety of topics, including how the new Motorola Solutions system will function when it鈥檚 operational in late 2026 or early 2027, along with how the county鈥檚 public safety committee and its consultant plan to implement it.
鈥淭his has been a really, really long time in coming,鈥� county Commission Chairman Nick Sherman told the group gathered in the fire department鈥檚 social hall. 鈥淲e saw there were connectivity issues (with the radio current system).鈥�
In September, the commissioners approved the $24.445 million contract with Motorola, with Sherman and Electra Janis voting in favor and Larry Maggi voting against it. Sherman and Janis helped to lead Wednesday鈥檚 meeting and spoke briefly, while Maggi had a prior commitment and was unable to attend.
The biggest concern from fire departments, many of them made up of volunteers and working on tight budgets, is the ability to purchase new handheld and mobile radios that are compatible with the Motorola system. Sherman said the contract includes 鈥渟ubscriber units鈥� for the departments, but they would also look to use Local Share Account gambling revenue grants and federal funding to help supplement any shortfalls.
There were also many questions from rural fire departments asking whether there would be reliable radio coverage in the sparsely populated areas where they work.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have coverage, your radio is a brick,鈥� said Scott Neal, who is the program manager for Mission Critical Partners that advised the county on the process and is now helping to implement it. 鈥淓veryone is going to be on the same system. It鈥檚 going to be countywide.鈥�
Neal and John Breon, who is Motorola鈥檚 project manager overseeing installation of the county鈥檚 new radio system, both said there will be 95% coverage using mobile radios typically found in vehicles and 90% reliability using handheld portable radios. But there were still some areas on the maps Breon presented showing less coverage in the southern and western areas of the county.
鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e in the infancy stage of the project,鈥� Breon said.
Once construction is complete, he said Motorola representatives will be going out into the field with Mission Critical workers and local officials testing quarter-mile quadrants to ensure that all areas have adequate coverage, even if they need to add 鈥渞epeaters鈥� to bolster the digital signal coming from 14 radio towers spread out around the county.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a heckuva lot better than what you have now,鈥� Neal said while admitting there might be some dead spots. 鈥淲e will talk with the county about what kind of enhancements they will need to make.鈥�
The system will be using an 800 MHz signal rather than VHF, which the panel said is better suited for the county鈥檚 needs, even though the latter is better to transmit over hilly terrain. The digital signal will also be more reliable for longer range, the panel claimed, although unlike analog that still offers some communication abilities even as it fades, digital drops completely once it鈥檚 out of range.
Westmoreland and Fayette counties are using the 800 MHz digital system 鈥� with Allegheny County in the process of implementing it 鈥� and can be hooked into Washington County鈥檚 radio system, if needed. But there were concerns from departments along the Greene County line to the south and West Virginia border to the west since those use VHF, raising questions if firefighters on the boundaries will have to maintain two sets of radios while coordinating mutual aid.
Morris Township firefighters submitted a question asking 鈥渋f this system works in Peters and North Strabane, how will it work鈥� for their department. Sherman said the radio system should function in every community, and promised they would work hard to ensure it does when they implement it.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to work the same everywhere,鈥� Sherman said, noting that the current radio system has shown limitations in populous places such as North Strabane. 鈥淭here are peaks and valleys everywhere.鈥�
After attending the meeting, Morris Township fire Chief Dave Dietrich said he was encouraged about the radio system, although he still had some reservations.
鈥淚鈥檓 thinking if it鈥檚 going to do everything they say it鈥檚 going to do, I think it鈥檚 going to be a good thing,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 improve or even gets worse, I think we鈥檙e all in trouble, or at least some of us are. But they seemed to have a plan and know what they鈥檙e talking about. I hate to say it, but our fate is in their hands.鈥�
He said they might have to reconfigure some of their radio systems in order to communicate with mutual aid stations in Greene County, which they will have to figure out as they move forward with the new radio system.
鈥淚鈥檓 just hoping what they鈥檙e telling us, they鈥檒l hold to their word on that and make sure it鈥檚 right before they (finish),鈥� he said. 鈥淚 guess we鈥檒l just have to wait. Time will tell. We鈥檒l keep a positive attitude.鈥�
North Strabane Director of Public Safety Mark Grimm was pleased with Wednesday night鈥檚 presentation and thought the turnout showed great interest in the project.
鈥淭his project is long overdue,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been dealing with radio issues for probably well over 15 years and there never seemed to be a fix. 鈥� The biggest thing is not only is it a benefit for first responder safety, but also for our residents. I was impressed by it and I鈥檓 looking forward to it and we鈥檒l see where it goes from here.鈥�
Canonsburg fire Chief Tim Solobay, who served as state fire commissioner a decade ago, came to the presentation skeptical of the radio project but left with an optimistic outlook.
鈥淚f everything happens the way they say it鈥檒l happen, then it would be impressive,鈥� Solobay said.
He wanted to hear more about why a previous radio system designed by MRA Inc. of North Strabane was rejected since the county had already spent nearly $9 million on equipment in 2023. The commissioners approved a $22.545 million contract with MRA in March 2023, but Sherman preferred the Motorola system, so he worked to terminate that contract last year and move forward with the current plan.
鈥淚t was never addressed on why they canceled that contract,鈥� Solobay said. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping for the best, I really am. We do need newer technology and more accountable, reliable communication. We maybe didn鈥檛 have a lot of the issues, per se here in the center of the county as much as the outskirts or the rural areas of the county, but we still had our issues.鈥�
Solobay, like many of the other first responders attending Wednesday night鈥檚 meeting, are ready to move forward with the county鈥檚 plans with hopes it will work out for the best.
鈥淭he proof will be in the pudding. Hopefully all the promises made will be promises kept,鈥� Solobay said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 still a lot of unanswered stuff until the old light switch gets turned on.鈥�
Another educational forum will be held later this year to discuss specifications for the mobile and handheld radios, although the date of that meeting has not yet been set.