Fauquier supervisors order technical assessment after years of public-safety radio failures

Fauquier County supervisors on Feb. 13 directed further technical assessment of the county's troubled public-safety radio system after presenters described multiple incidents in which crews inside burning buildings could not transmit to command. The board's public-safety radio committee has selected a consulting firm to produce a replacement plan and staff told supervisors the work and any procurement would be presented as part of the fiscal 2026 budget process.

The issue matters because the county's radio backbone supports law enforcement and fire-rescue dispatch across Fauquier, Culpeper and Rappahannock counties. Presenters said the system has had ongoing malfunctions since the county contracted with L3Harris in 2016, and that incidents have included failures to transmit from crews inside structures and repeated firmware and hardware faults.

Chief Scott Smith (Fire and Rescue) described an incident in which a chief officer inside a burning…