{"id":37262,"date":"2023-10-17T00:47:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T04:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=37262"},"modified":"2023-10-17T00:47:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T04:47:23","slug":"union-president-voices-concerns-about-lfd-radios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2023\/10\/17\/union-president-voices-concerns-about-lfd-radios\/","title":{"rendered":"Union president voices concerns about LFD radios"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First responders have an arsenal of tools, but to Shannon Turbeville, few are as important as radios.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"513\" height=\"432\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/vehicrepeat2.jpg?resize=513%2C432&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/vehicrepeat2.jpg?w=513&amp;ssl=1 513w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/vehicrepeat2.jpg?resize=300%2C253&amp;ssl=1 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWho wants to go into a burning building with no communication?\u201d said Turbeville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turbeville, a longtime Lakeland firefighter and the President of Lakeland\u2019s fire union, Lakeland Professional Firefighters (IAFF Local 4173), is pushing for a change to make radios work better after an incident in late August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Lakeland-Fire-1-resized.webp?resize=1110%2C624&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37265\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Turbeville, firefighters had trouble using their radios while responding to a medical emergency in a warehouse on County Line Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe people that ran the call were rattled,\u201d Turbeville said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Turbeville explained, the department\u2019s radios sometimes have signal issues when they are used inside some large commercial buildings with thick walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regardless of the August incident, that\u2019s why Turbeville is pushing the city to equip its firetrucks with repeaters, a tool used to enhance and boost the radio signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/m.flsenate.gov\/statutes\/633.202\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Florida statute 633.202<\/a>, many new commercial structures are responsible for installing their own repeaters, which the state refers to as &#8220;two-way radio communication enhancement systems.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lakelandgov.net\/departments\/lakeland-fire-department\/prevention\/contractordesign-professional-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">on its website<\/a>, the City of Lakeland says its Fire Department utilizes its own \u201cin-vehicle repeaters,\u201d meaning businesses will only have to install their own systems when the fire department\u2019s repeaters \u201cdo not provide sufficient coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"343\" height=\"147\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/download-1-2.jpeg?resize=343%2C147&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/download-1-2.jpeg?w=343&amp;ssl=1 343w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/download-1-2.jpeg?resize=300%2C129&amp;ssl=1 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turbeville, however, believes the city\u2019s claim \u2014 that it \u201cutilizes in-vehicle repeaters\u201d \u2014 does not tell the whole story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a memo Turbeville got from Lakeland\u2019s city manager on Sept. 14, the city has one portable repeater. An in-vehicle repeater has been ordered, and another will be purchased next fiscal year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the memo, the two in-vehicle repeaters will be installed in the vehicles driven by two department battalion chiefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To Turbeville, that presents a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHaving two repeaters, one on each battalion chief\u2019s vehicle, does not provide the firefighters or the public the protection if that battalion chief\u2019s vehicle is not on the scene when firefighters are making entry into the building,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, he would like to see the city purchase additional repeaters so one can be equipped on a firetruck at each of the city\u2019s seven stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His concern was echoed in a letter signed by both the International Association of Fire Fighters and Florida Professional Firefighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey believe that there\u2019s inadequate protection in Lakeland,\u201d Turbeville said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Sept. 14 memo, the city manager told Turbeville that the fire chief is \u201cconfident\u201d that the city\u2019s plan \u201cwill address the challenges with communications in commercial buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city said it will issue a statement from Chief Doug Riley on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First responders have an arsenal of tools, but to Shannon Turbeville, few are as important as radios. \u201cWho wants to go into a burning building with no communication?\u201d said Turbeville.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[6338],"class_list":["post-37262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-union-president-voices-concerns-about-lfd-radios"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}