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By JENNIFER LEARN jlearn@leader.net
Friday, January 28, 2000 Page: 1A
PITTSTON TWP. – Firefighters say the township has stooped to a dangerous
low by kicking them off a radio frequency used by emergency workers when
responding to fires, accidents and medical emergencies.
The Federal Communications Commission in a letter dated Jan. 20 ordered
the fire department to stop using the township’s frequency after a complaint
from township officials. The letter says the township alleges that
firefighters talk on the frequency without a license and cause “harmful
interference” to the public works department, which also uses the channel.
The administration has clashed frequently with the fire and ambulance
departments. They’ve argued over strings of township Christmas lights that
stop mysteriously at emergency buildings, only to resume down the block.
They’ve bickered over dancing and noise in the ambulance parking lot.
But firefighters and ambulance workers say this is the first spat that
could jeopardize public safety.
“Time matters. Seconds matter, and by having us ordered off this
frequency, the township is creating a serious life safety issue for the people
in our town,” said firefighter Joe Pupa III.
Township firefighters, ambulance, police and emergency management workers
have used channel 153.740 MHz to update each other about emergencies in
progress for more than a decade.
Public works employees use the same frequency to talk to each other about
road jobs and garbage pickups.
Without use of the channel, emergency crews worry they will miss advance
notice and crucial information about the scene on the local frequency. Luzerne
County 911 dispatches emergency workers, but doesn’t air all the pertinent
chatter from those who arrive first that can help prepare those who get there
later.
Firefighters say the township asked them to start using the frequency more
than a decade ago so they could improve emergency services. Pupa said the fire
department only once interrupted a transmission by the public works
department, and he does not believe it created a problem.
Pupa said it happened when emergency workers recently responded to a
16-vehicle pileup on snowy Interstate 81. The fire department asked a handful
of public works employees to limit transmissions for a few minutes while
firefighters secured the scene.
Pupa said public works employees were cooperative and understanding, unlike
the township officials who complained to the FCC.
“Cars were crushed under tractor-trailers with men, women and children
inside, and some people think it’s more necessary for someone to use the radio
frequency to talk about what should be ordered for lunch,” Pupa said.
Supervisors Tony Attardo, John Paglianite and Joseph Adams could not be
reached for comment.
“In my opinion, this is just another form of harassment, intimidation and
government oppression,” Pupa said. “What rationally thinking person or
governing body would do something like this?”
A township worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity said township
officials are considering allowing the fire department to use the frequency
until the department gets its own.
But securing a frequency can take months, if they’re available at all, the
FCC said. The FCC letter says firefighters will face fines and possibly prison
time if they continue to use the township’s frequency.
Firefighters can fight the township’s attempt to boot them off the disputed
frequency, but Pupa said the township would probably win because the township,
as license holder, dictates who uses the frequency.
Don Hudzinski, president of the township Volunteer Ambulance Association,
said the township also wants the ambulance to stop using the frequency.
Hudzinski said the township calls for emergency workers to use the local
frequency in its emergency response plan. Adopted in 1998, the plan was signed
by both Paglianite and Adams.
Firefighters also say the township spent thousands of dollars buying radio
equipment so the fire department could access the township frequency.
Township Fire Chief Tony Angelella Sr. said he worries that without the
local frequency, emergency workers won’t be able to adequately respond to
crashes and disasters that occur in a busy township with interstates, a
turnpike, train tracks, an industrial park and an airport.
“This is a very bad situation,” Angelella said. “It’s getting to the
point that we’ve got to get support from the people of town to go after these
supervisors because they have no regard for the safety of the people.”
Call Learn at 831-7333.