Click here to subscribe today or Login.
By KEVIN HOFFMAN khoffman@leader.net
Sunday, January 30, 2000 Page: 6A
PITTSTON TWP. – The volunteer fire company demanded Saturday that the
Board of Supervisors hold an emergency meeting to find out who complained to
the Federal Communications Commission about firefighters’ use of a radio
frequency.
In a letter sent Saturday to Township Supervisor Chairman John Paglianite,
the fire company asked the board to allow them to continue using the radio
channel to communicate vital details about automobile crashes and fires.
The FCC recently banned the department from using the frequency because of
a complaint filed by the township, which holds the license for the radio
channel.
“By intentionally and maliciously placing citizens and firefighters in
imminent danger of loss of life and property, Pittston Township has by far
crossed the line,” the Fire Department wrote in the letter.
Paglianite said Friday he was unaware of the complaint and vowed to find
out who was trying to undermine his authority. The FCC would not identify who
lodged the complaint because the matter is under investigation.
In a list of demands in the letter, the Fire Department pressured the
township to write to the FCC to formally withdraw the complaint and asked
supervisors to indicate that whoever filed it did so without authorization.
The department also asked for permission to continue using the radio
channel and asked that the township promise to pay any fines that might be
levied by the FCC against firefighters for using the frequency. Under the
Communications Act, firefighters who use the frequency illegally could be
subject to civil fines of up to $11,000 and criminal penalties of up to
$100,000 and imprisonment for up to one year, the FCC said.
Paglianite and the other two supervisors did not return phone messages
seeking comment Saturday.
Call Hoffman at 829-7139.