BOCA FIRE RESCUE NET - City of Boca Raton

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Communications
By: Pat Kelly
Division Chief
Hello once again,
On October 1, 2011, Deerfield Beach
Fire Rescue was absorbed into the Broward
County Sheriff’s Office (BSO).
We have a long history of mutually
beneficial assistance to each other both
within our respective cities and on I-95.
Communications on these mutual aid
calls was as simple as switching to
Tactical Channel 5 as they also had this
channel on their radios. Unfortunately,
they no longer have this channel on the
BSO radios. The procedure will now
involve our personnel accessing the
Broward County Mutual Aid channels
which are located on Zone G on our
radios. If either receiving or giving
mutual aid to Deerfield Beach units,
expect to be instructed to switch to one
of these channels for direct communications.
We have already tested the
system and it works well.
We have long expected the arrival of
Next Generation 911. This is a technologically
enhanced version of the 911
system, which gives the address and
phone number of a caller. The system
is being installed throughout Palm
Beach County and unfortunately has
run into some difficulty. We were expecting
to go on-line in October, but
our installation has been postponed till
early next year. We will keep you advised.
Each month I investigate all calls that
do not meet our response criteria. Recently
we have had several calls with
extended response times. Most of these
were due to units arriving in the area
and not being able to locate the incident
either because the parties had left
BOCA FIRE RESCUE
the scene or the call was unfounded. Please remember that as soon as your unit arrives
in the area, you must advise Dispatch of your arrival, with nothing found, and
you are investigating.
Till next time, be safe.
Frank Correggio, Public Information Officer
Tractor Trailer Accident Ties Up Traffic On I-95
In October, Boca Raton firefighters responded to a report of a vehicle accident involving
a tractor trailer that happened on on I-95 northbound between Palmetto Park
Road and Glades Road. When fire crews arrived, they found a tractor trailer and a
vehicle had collided causing a fuel leak from the truck’s saddle tank. Firefighters
closed down two lanes of the interstate as they began to handle the haz mat incident.
Crew used a special pump to help off-load the fuel from the tank and absorbant to
pick up fuel that was on the ground. Approximately 100 gallons of diesel fuel was
transferred into a waiting container and removed. It took crews approximately two
hours to clean up the spill. Members of Florida DEP and the DOT were on-scene to
assist. There were no injuries reported. The accident is under investigation by
Florida Highway Patrol.
Photo by Jay Bell