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Maysville fire chief warns radio encryption could threaten mutual aid with Bracken County
Summary
Maysville Fire Chief Kyle Carpenter told the Bracken County Fiscal Court that radio encryption and a vendor 'RAS' key prevent neighboring departments from accessing county channels, calling it a safety risk and saying his department may withhold a mutual-aid agreement unless interoperability is fixed by midyear.
Kyle Carpenter, fire chief of the Maysville Fire Department, told the Bracken County Fiscal Court that the county’s radio system is configured with a vendor-owned RAS key that prevents some neighboring fire and EMS units from accessing Bracken County channels.
"Right now, how the radio system is set up, it’s set up with this RAS key that eliminates us having access with our radios," Carpenter said, describing brand- and key-specific encryption he said requires a Motorola "Turbo" key to communicate across systems. He told the court that inability to monitor or speak with local dispatchers creates a public-safety risk.
Carpenter said mutual aid has always been reciprocal — "we will when you call, we come. No questions asked" — but that the current interoperability limits mean Maysville crews could be unable to communicate when they enter Bracken County, and Bracken crews might not be heard when they enter neighboring counties. He said short-term technical workarounds and multi-band radios that support both P25 and DMR are possible fixes, but that the RAS key is the central barrier.
When asked about timing, Carpenter told the court the department expects a solution path must be in place before roughly July 1; if not, he said, his department might decline to sign a proposed mutual-aid agreement because "you can't tell me my guys are gonna be safe over here." The court and Carpenter agreed to pursue follow-up conversations and for Carpenter to return to speak again, tentatively on May 27 or June 10.
Court members pressed technical questions about whether analog repeaters or channel switching could serve as stopgap measures. Carpenter acknowledged analog bridging may work but cautioned it can require responders to toggle channels while performing patient care. Court staff also noted the statewide review process for radio-system changes and that some vendor decisions appear not to have been submitted to that committee.
The presiding officer said the court would pursue additional technical and interagency discussions and requested Carpenter share his email chain with the court’s judge to coordinate next steps. No formal policy action or vote on mutual aid was taken at the meeting.
The chief’s remarks are scheduled for further discussion at an upcoming fiscal-court meeting; the court did not adopt any change to mutual-aid agreements during the session.
