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2010 Burke County Fire and Rescue College

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Brendletown Very Busy During Severe Storm

During a two hour period during and after a severe thunderstorm on Tuesday July 20th, Brendletown Fire and Rescue responded to a total of six calls for service. One rescue call, four fire calls, and one medical call. Details on each call can be found in the "Recent Calls" history section. Each call was responded to quickly with numerous apparatus and firefighters.

Brendletown Receives Grant 

Brendletown Fire and Rescue has put into service eleven new 800MHz portable radios. The radios operate on the NC Viper system. This system was created by the NC Highway Patrol and allows users to communicate to anyone in the State using this system. The grant came from the NC Department of Insurance and is administered by the State Fire Marshal's office. The grant is a matching grant, 50/50. The total amount of the grant was $21,600. The NC Viper system offers the ability to communicate long distances with "walkie-talkie" type equipment. The system is still under construction in the far western counties, but when complete; a person standing in Murphy, NC will be able to communicate with someone standing in Manteo, NC. via portable radio. Brendletown, along with every other emergency agency in the county must switch to the VIPER system by January 1st 2013. This is required by the FCC. A new law goes into effect that day which will make it illegal to operate our current communications system. It is comparable to the switch last year from analog TV to digital TV. The VIPER system is a great system and is ultra state of the art. The downside is the cost. One portable radio "walkie-talkie" costs $2200. One mobile radio "truck mounted" costs $4200. Brendletown's total cost in replacing all communications equipment comes to over $65,000. We have been extremely fortunate to secure this grant and a federal grant 2 years ago to assist us in purchasing 16 portable Viper radios. We have applied for another federal grant This year that would allow us to complete our communications requirements.

For more information on the NC VIPER system click here

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During the Fundamentals of Search and Rescue class which was held over a two week period, personnel from Brendletown, South Mountain, Lake James, Drexel, and Burke County EMS learned the methods of finding a lost subject. The class ended with a simulated search in a wilderness area at Lake James which lasted throughout the night. Crews learned compass reading, map reading, GPS positioning, man-tracking, outdoor survival, search tactics, lost subject behavior,etc. Crews bought a "24 hour pack" and stocked it with everything they would need for a 24 hour period. Included in this pack was one 8x10 tarp or heavy plastic, which was all they were allowed to use in constructing the night's shelter. Some shelters were "interesting", more pictures to follow.