Fire Chief

After about four months, it became clear to both of us that my public-sector upbringing and their private-sector, family owned ways of doing business weren’t a good fit. And in that environment there’s really only one person who can go.

A couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate coordinated a demonstration of voice interoperability between six different manufacturers’ systems using a new Bridging System Interface.

We’re less than a week away from the beginning of the much-anticipated auction of 700-MHz spectrum, but we still have no indication whether a wireless operator will bid on the 10 MHz of commercial D Block airwaves, which is supposed to be paired with public safety’s 10 MHz to provide the foundation for a nationwide wireless broadband network for emergency responders.

With the 700-MHz auction less than three weeks away, speculation is rampant regarding which operators will secure valuable spectrum, particularly for the 10-MHz D Block that will be paired with public safety’s 10-MHz in the band to provide the foundation for a nationwide broadband wireless network.

Much has been written and said about how the effort to reconfigure the 800-MHz band so that operations by Sprint Nextel no longer cause harmful interference to first responder communications is well behind schedule and likely won’t be completed by the June 26, 2008, deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission. But not much has been written or said about what’s being done to get the derailment back on track.

I’ve written many articles about the great need for fire sprinklers, but let me make it clear that I also strongly believe in the need for the three Es of fire prevention: education, enforcement and engineering. All three are very important, but if I had to put them in order of priority, I would have listed them just as I did.

The problem doesn’t start with the building; it starts with the construction codes. Our real enemies are the ones who allow such buildings to be built with little regard for the occupants’ safety and even less regard for the firefighters’ safety.

It is my hope that this blog will facilitate an exchange of information on current topics such as interoperability, 700MHz, NFPA 1221, trunked radio systems in the fire service, tactical radio systems, Project 25, Next-Generation 911 systems, and other topics that you ask about.

After receiving an invitation from FIRE CHIEF Editorial Director Janet Wilmoth to contribute to the magazine’s new blog, I began to ponder my first topic. A corollary between my article Task Master in the March issue of FIRE CHIEF and the overarching challenge of managing technology for chief officers immediately surfaced as a central focus.

A couple months ago I got a new digital camera. Barely bigger than my flip-phone, the quality of the pictures and flexibility of this camera are really amazing. What I find even more interesting is that people don’t think it takes real pictures because it’s so small. But be warned, folks: The optical zoom limit is “10x,” and once I learn how to use this baby’s automatic video-recording feature, you’ll never know what’s being recorded.