May 2, 2006 BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
Communication breakdowns like the one that contributed heavily to six deaths at an October 2003 Loop high-rise fire could be a thing of the past thanks to a no-bid $22 million digital radio system on the way for Chicago’s first responders. Police officers and firefighters will be able to communicate directly with each other, instead of relying on the cumbersome process of “console patching” by 911 center dispatchers. Firefighters and paramedics will use the same hand-held radios, instead of being forced to carry two different radios if they want to communicate directly. The Motorola system — complete with more than 2,000 portable radios for the Chicago Fire Department alone — will also have more frequencies to handle heavy traffic volumes during major emergencies. Some channels will be “encrypted” for enhanced security. And the new digital system will be able to maintain uninterrupted communication in high-rise buildings where radio service is notoriously difficult. “It’s a big step in fire communications — the biggest upgrade that’s been undertaken in at least 25 years,” said fire department spokesman Larry Langford. ‘It could only have helped’ With at least six fire ground frequencies instead of two, the new system should go a long way toward eliminating problems that plagued rescue efforts at the October 2003 fire at 69 W. Washington, he said. Six people died after being trapped by stairway doors that locked behind them. In July 2004, an investigating committee recommended separate radio frequencies for receiving and transmitting calls to remedy a breakdown so severe that frantic 911 calls from people trapped inside a smoke-filled stairwell went into a “black hole” while the fire department changed commanders every time a more senior officer arrived.
“People were talking over each other and they couldn’t hear because radio traffic was so heavy. With the new system, there will be many more available channels,” Langford said. Dan Kotin, an attorney representing victims of the 69 W. Washington fire, said the firefighter depositions he has conducted over the past three months make it clear how desperately Chicago needs a state-of-the-art radio system for its first responders. “We’ve learned that many of the firefighters did not have access to communications by others because they didn’t have appropriate frequencies,” Kotin said. “Whether that would have changed the ultimate outcome of this tragedy, I don’t know because the people at the top of the chain had information regarding the situation in the stairwell and failed to communicate it. But, it could only have helped.” Test results ‘very good’ Christine Konopka, who escaped the smoke-filled stairwell at 69 W. Washington, said she’s all for a system that allows first responders from “different agencies” to communicate with each other. But, she warned that the new system won’t “solve everything” — that the city still has to “train employees to ask questions” they did not ask on that fateful night. “My face was totally black with soot when I got down to the first floor. A paramedic asked if anybody needed oxygen, but they never asked me why I looked the way I looked. Don’t you think they might ask, ‘Where were you?’ ” said Konopka, an administrative assistant to Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine. “After that, we said, ‘There are still people trapped in the stairwell.’ And they were saying, ‘No. Everybody’s out.’ Sometimes you have to ask more obvious questions.” Langford said the new radio system has been years in the making because Chicago has conducted extensive testing to avoid problems incurred by digital radio systems in New York and California.
“Before we signed off on building the entire system, [Motorola] put up a skeleton system for paramedics. We tested a North Side and South Side system and results were very good,” he said. “New towers have to go up in certain areas. Radios have to be programmed and delivered. . . . There will be a learning curve in instructing everyone. The new system will not be turned on to replace the old system until it is thoroughly evaluated, tested and proven. Then and only then will everybody be switched over.” The new radio system is expected to be financed by homeland security funds. The federal government has mandated digital systems for police, fire and EMS, according to Jennifer Martinez, a spokeswoman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
“People were talking over each other and they couldn’t hear because radio traffic was so heavy. With the new system, there will be many more available channels,” Langford said. Dan Kotin, an attorney representing victims of the 69 W. Washington fire, said the firefighter depositions he has conducted over the past three months make it clear how desperately Chicago needs a state-of-the-art radio system for its first responders. “We’ve learned that many of the firefighters did not have access to communications by others because they didn’t have appropriate frequencies,” Kotin said. “Whether that would have changed the ultimate outcome of this tragedy, I don’t know because the people at the top of the chain had information regarding the situation in the stairwell and failed to communicate it. But, it could only have helped.” Test results ‘very good’ Christine Konopka, who escaped the smoke-filled stairwell at 69 W. Washington, said she’s all for a system that allows first responders from “different agencies” to communicate with each other. But, she warned that the new system won’t “solve everything” — that the city still has to “train employees to ask questions” they did not ask on that fateful night. “My face was totally black with soot when I got down to the first floor. A paramedic asked if anybody needed oxygen, but they never asked me why I looked the way I looked. Don’t you think they might ask, ‘Where were you?’ ” said Konopka, an administrative assistant to Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine. “After that, we said, ‘There are still people trapped in the stairwell.’ And they were saying, ‘No. Everybody’s out.’ Sometimes you have to ask more obvious questions.” Langford said the new radio system has been years in the making because Chicago has conducted extensive testing to avoid problems incurred by digital radio systems in New York and California.
“Before we signed off on building the entire system, [Motorola] put up a skeleton system for paramedics. We tested a North Side and South Side system and results were very good,” he said. “New towers have to go up in certain areas. Radios have to be programmed and delivered. . . . There will be a learning curve in instructing everyone. The new system will not be turned on to replace the old system until it is thoroughly evaluated, tested and proven. Then and only then will everybody be switched over.” The new radio system is expected to be financed by homeland security funds. The federal government has mandated digital systems for police, fire and EMS, according to Jennifer Martinez, a spokeswoman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.