From Phil Stenholm:
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
KSC732 IS ON THE AIR!
At a cost of $13,000, two-way FM radios were purchased and placed into Evanston fire stations and on-board most EFD vehicles in June 1952. Paid for with funds from the 1951 bond issue, the new radio system initially had some problems with “bleed-over” interference from a local taxi cab company, but the problem was soon resolved by Motorola engineers assigned to the project.
The 20-series prefix was first used by the Evanston Fire Department after the radios were installed,in 1952, to help lessen confusion with other fire departments that were sharing the same radio frequency at that time, as well as other fire departments that might be added at a later date.
Thus Engine 1 became Engine 21, Truck 2 became Truck 22, Engine 5 became Engine 25, etc. The new combination pumper / rescue squad was designated “Squad 21,” and EFD Chief Henry Dorband used the radio call-sign “F-1,” the same call-sign he had been using on the Evanston Police radio frequency since he got his new two-way radio-equipped Mercury automobile 1951.
The Evanston Fire Department ended up on the same radio frequency as the Wilmette, Winnetka, Northfield, Glencoe, and Highland Park fire departments. While radio repeaters were used on the Chicago Fire Department’s Main and Englewood radio frequencies, they were not employed on the radio frequencies used by north suburban fire departments, so sometimes a radio transmission from one of the fire departments on the frequency might inadvertently interfere with the radio transmission of another fire department on that same frequency.
The Evanston Police Department’s base-station radio-transmitter received the FCC-assigned call-sign KSA580 when it was placed into service in 1951, and the Evanston Fire Department’s base-station radio-transmitter received the FCC-assigned call-sign KSC732 when it was placed into service in 1952.
The base-station radio-transmitter at Station # 1 was known as “KSC732 – the desk,” or simply “732 – the desk.” The radio-transmitter at Station # 2 was KSC733, the radio-transmitter at Station # 3 was KSC734, and the radio-transmitter at Station # 4 was KSC735. The radio-transmitter at Fire Station # 5 received the FCC-assigned call-sign KSD841 when the station opened in 1955.
The EFD’s radio system was tested twice a day, once at 0800 hours, and then again at 2000 hours, with each station having to acknowledge receipt of the test by stating its FCC-assigned call-sign. A radio test could be delayed if one or more companies were en route to a call, or even canceled if a major incident was in progress.
Each EFD company officer was responsible for keeping track of the current status of all of the other companies of the same type (engine or truck). For example, the officer of Engine Co. 24 would need to know whether or not Engine Co. 23 was in service or out of service, because it could change Engine Co. 24’s first-due or second-engine response area. Company officers would have to acknowledge over the radio whenever another company’s status changed. If acknowledging from a fire station, the station’s FCC-assigned call-sign — or sometimes just the last three numbers of the call-sign — was used.
Both the police and fire department base radio consoles were initially located in a room on the second floor / south side of the police station, in close proximity to the stairway that led from the police station to Fire Station # 1. The radio consoles were later relocated to a room on the first floor / northeast side of the police station, next to the police complaint desk and on the far opposite side from Station # 1.
Both the police and fire department radios were operated by civilian communication operators who were under the supervision of a police sergeant. Technically, half of a communication operator’s salary was paid by the police department, and half was paid by the fire department. Prior to 1975, communication operators were exclusively male, and in some cases were retired police officers or retired firefighters. Multi-tasking, speaking clearly, and having a good memory was useful. Typing skill was absolutely NOT a requirement.
All fire calls, inhalator calls, and details were broadcast over the EFD radio, with communication operators usually announcing fire and inhalator calls, automatic alarms, car fires, trash fires, etc, and a firefighter at the desk at Station # 1 typically announcing a non-emergency engine or truck company detail, such as a residential lock-out, a gas-wash, or an odor investigation.
A four-second long horn-type alert-tone was broadcast immediately prior to announcing a fire call, inhalator call, or detail, as well as for the twice-daily radio test. This horn tone was unique to the EFD and was activated by pushing a button similar to a doorbell. It couldn’t be stopped once it was started, and it covered all voice transmissions that might be in progress. There were only two activation buttons for the horn, one located in the Evanston Police radio room, and the other at the desk at Fire Station # 1.
The communication operator did not assign EFD companies to a call. Rather, the communication operator would simply announce the call-type and location twice, and then state the time and the EFD’s radio call-sign. Then the radio system would turn into a party-line conference call. Companies that were due to respond were expected to acknowledge receipt of the call over the radio, and it was up to the platoon commander to make sure that the proper companies had acknowledged and were responding.
This somewhat arcane aboriginal dispatch procedure that dated back to 1952 was not changed until 1982!
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#1 by Phil Stenholm on December 19, 2021 - 1:15 PM
MICHAEL M: Evanston is its own dispatch center.
I was going to get into this in a later post, but essentially what changed in 1981 is that the Evanston Fire Department implemented the Phoenix Fire Department’s “Fireground Incident Command” system.
It was invented by Phoenix F. D. Chief Alan Brunacini in 1977 (he even wrote a book about it), and fire departments who were dispatched by the Phoenix Fire Department Dispatch Center at that time (Phoenix, Glendale, Tolleson, Tempe, and Peoria) were using it with lot of success. A couple of the EFD chiefs were good friends with Brunacini, and the EFD decided to try the Phoenix IC system in Evanston.
The Fireground Incident Command system involved using plain English instead of codes on the radio, and introduced new terms like “command,” “sector,” “staging,” “RIT,” etc, and those were really new and sometimes difficult concepts for Evanston firefighters (especially for the older shift chiefs and company officers). In fact, just using “plain English” was hard for a lot of the old timers!.
Then in January 1982, the Evanston police / fire communication operators took over all aspects of fire dispatching, like keeping track of the status of units, assigning specific units to calls, maintaining a complete record of each incident, etc. As such, EFD company officers no longer had to concern themselves with the status of the other companies or keeping track of times. The dispatchers did all that.
Prior to 1982, only one police / fire communication operator would work the midnight shift (2300- 0700). That was fine under the old fire dispatch system, but it was quickly found that a second operator was needed on the midnight shift, one to handle police radio traffic and run computer checks for police officers, and the other to monitor the burglar alarm / fire alarm board, answer 9-1-1 calls, and dispatch fire department units, handle EFD radio traffic, and maintain dispatch and radio traffic records
There was also a significant change in the EFD’s dispatching mechanics at that time, as the new radios located in the fire stations could be muted “do not disturb” during night-time hours (2000- 0600). The station’s radio could be turned on by use of a certain two-tone combination that was unique for that station, so the communication operator would transmit that two tone combination to open up that station’s radio receiver before dispatching a call for that station during night-time hours.
The radio tones for a specific station were only used for EMS and one-engine or one-truck details dispatched during night-time hours. There was an “all-call” tone used 24/7 when dispatching a General Alarm (fire), because the EFD chiefs wanted all firefighters to be awake whenever companies were responding to or on the scene of a General Alarm (fire).
That’s why I explained the Evanston Fire Department’s radio and dispatch procedures as they applied only to the years 1952-81 in this post, because what was established in 1952 carried forward virtually unchanged for 30 years. Then the fire radio and dispatch system was radically and abruptly altered in a number of different ways in 1981-82.
#2 by Michael m on December 19, 2021 - 12:03 PM
When did they join RED Center? Did they join in 81?
#3 by Phil Stenholm on December 19, 2021 - 11:46 AM
RADIO CODES USED BY EVANSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT 1952-81
TEN-CODE:
10-1: Poor radio transmission
10-2: Good radio transmission
10-4: Acknowledgment / OK
10-5: Fire is out or under control (specify name of officer ordering 10-5)
EXAMPLE: Fire is 10-5 by orders of Captain Fahrbach
10-6: Busy / please stand-by
10-7: Out of service / not available
10-8: In service / available
10-9: Repeat your last transmission
10-19: Return to station
10-20: Location
10-21: Call by telephone (specify)
10-22: Disregard
OTHER:
CODE 1: Laying a booster or pre-connect hose line
CODE 2: Working structure fire / laying multiple hose lines
CODE 3: Radioactive material is involved
CODE 4: Need radiological detection equipment or team (specify)
CODE 5: Respond without emergency lights and siren
CODE 6: Fatality (specify number of fatalities if known)
EXAMPLE: CODE 6-1 if one, CODE 6-2 if two, etc
CODE 7: Unit is broke-down on the road (specify location)
CODE 8: Unit has been involved in a traffic accident (specify location)
CODE 9: Severe weather warning
CODE 10: Call-back off-duty personnel (specify)
POST 10: Evanston Hospital
POST 11: St. Francis Hospital
POST 12: Community Hospital