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Commissioners hear repeated concerns about radios and a closed EOC during River Fire response
Summary
Multiple speakers told the commission that radio programming gaps and failure to open an emergency operations center complicated coordination during the multi‑county fire; staff said reprogramming to the state template and standing up an EOC would improve asset tracking and public information.
Several responders and county staff told the commission that communications problems were a central shortcoming during the River/Andrew Lane Fire response. Mark Johnson (Road and Bridge) said road crews’ radios “didn't work that great in that river bottom” and calls could go unanswered for 10–15 minutes, hampering requests for resources.
An LEPC representative and other staff explained that many county radios had been reprogrammed with a limited frequency (weather watch) and lacked the state talkgroup template; reprogramming would allow visibility of incoming assets on state channels. ‘‘We just gotta get the radios reprogrammed to where they've got the state template,’’ one participant said, adding that the EOC could then coordinate and relieve field crews of asset‑tracking tasks.
Commissioners and staff discussed whether an administrator or another designated person should be the consistent point for EOC activation and public information; multiple speakers recommended forming a small committee or using LEPC to write standard operating procedures for rapid EOC activation and radio/talkgroup assignments. No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting, but staff were directed to consolidate incident reports and return recommendations.
