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La Habra Heights honors Firewatch volunteers for donated radio and antenna
Summary
The council recognized Mark Hughes and Dennis Swainy for donating and installing a backup radio and antenna at City Hall to improve communications during emergencies; Firewatch volunteers described their role in recent mudslides and Fourth of July operations.
La Habra Heights on Oct. 13 recognized two volunteer members of its Firewatch program for donating and installing a second radio and antenna at City Hall that officials say will improve communications with the local firewatch repeater during emergencies. Mayor Papiscotta led the recognition, praising the volunteers’ contributions to public safety.
“This is the part of the job that I really enjoy — recognizing folks in our city that have gone above and beyond,” Mayor Papiscotta said, noting the volunteers’ help setting up an emergency operations center during significant mudslides and a successful Fourth of July public-safety operation.
Mark Hughes and Dennis Swainy described months of work repairing and assembling equipment and the persistence required to get the unit operational. “Dennis worked on this for a little over a month and a half,” Hughes said, and Swainy added that repeated repairs finally brought the equipment into service.
City staff confirmed an antenna was installed at City Hall to improve coverage with the Firewatch repeater. Councilmembers and the city manager thanked the volunteers and encouraged residents interested in joining Firewatch to contact the city for volunteer information.
The recognition follows recent Firewatch activity that included an interagency EOC involving county fire, sheriff’s deputies and habitat rangers. Councilmembers said the volunteer program is a key part of public-safety resilience in the Heights and urged residents to consider volunteering.
