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Wayne fire department to regain its own fire-ground channel; council approves $5,165 update
Summary
Council approved a one-time $5,165 expense to retemplate fire radios and perform firmware updates so Wayne regains a separate fire-ground channel; staff said the change addresses crowded channels and anticipates future encryption trends.
The City of Wayne council approved a one-time $5,165 expenditure to update the Fire Department’s radio template and firmware so the department can operate on its own fire-ground channel instead of sharing with Westland.
The Fire Chief told council that Wayne previously operated on a joint channel after a merger and that increased call volumes have made the shared channel crowded. "The fees that you're seeing here are about $3,100 to actually do that conversion and retemplating of all our radios," the chief said, adding that roughly $2,100 of the total covers firmware updates that would be required regardless. He described the change as a one-time cost set by the state.
The chief said the department expects the template approval and radio updates within about three to four months and that encryption trends among local departments could make the separate template necessary. Council asked whether dispatch would change; the chief said dispatching will continue through Dearborn Consolidated Dispatch and only the fire-ground radio channel will be separate.
Council approved the expenditure by voice vote. The chief said the vehicle-and-staff dispatching relationship with Westland and Dearborn Consolidated Dispatch will remain unchanged.
