Governor approves $12M to replace fire services radio equipment across Stanislaus

The Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services is set to receive $12 million in one-time funding to upgrade radios and improve radio communications infrastructure.

Fire departments within the county have needed the improvements badly, Modesto Fire Department Division Chief Michael Lillie said in a news release from Assemblyman Heath Flora. “The radios we currently use were discontinued by the manufacturer in 2014,” Lillie said, “and four years later in 2018, they discontinued service and repairs as well.”

The radios and infrastructure fail to meet state and federal regulations, the release said. It noted that on June 5, 2018, the Modesto Fire Department experienced a complete system failure that saw firefighters in the field unable to communicate with one another or with the command center.

“This radio funding is critical to the success and reliability of the fire service and we thank the governor for authorizing the request. Emergency situations change by the minute, and they don’t wait for you to step outside to find a better signal,” said Flora, whose 12th District includes Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale, Denair, Empire, Escalon, Hickman, Hughson, Keyes, Manteca, Ripon, Riverbank, Salida and Waterford, among other communities.

Flora’s office worked with local fire agencies throughout the drafting of the budget request, said Dylan Gray, his chief of staff. “The dollar figure is the cost of replacing all of the radio equipment used countywide by the fire services as well as building new infrastructure (radio towers) to support the upgraded equipment,” Gray told The Bee in an email. “The administrative nuts and bolts will ... be worked out at the county level.”