In most downtowns, reaching a 911 dispatcher when you need help isn’t a problem.
In Sullivan County, it can be.
With fewer than 6,000 residents, Sullivan has the second smallest population among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties
But like residents in the other 66, they still need an ambulance or a fire truck every now and then.
The trouble is, Sullivan may trail in population, but it’s a leader in mountainous terrain. About two thirds of the county is hilly state game lands or forest plus the county has a sliver of Ricketts Glen State Park.
The terrain often blocks emergency radio signals. When that happens, Dushore Fire Chief John Yonkin said firefighters compensate by relying on their truck’s radio instead of their portable.
Even that doesn’t always work.
“There's areas that we are very familiar with that we know when we cross a certain point, if we're responding on a road, we know that after you get here, you aren't not going to talk to county. It just doesn't happen,” Yonkin said.
The job of trying to fix Sullivan’s communications problems falls to Joe Carpenter, the county director of emergency services.
The county has a VHF radio system with four towers used to dispatch first responders. VHF stands for very high frequency. VHF carries a strong signal but the signal beams in a straight line. That means obstacles can more easily block it.
“I mean, you could be half a mile and not have radio coverage just because the tower's either overshooting you, or there's something blocking you,” Carpenter said.
Back in 2016, the county updated the system with a better tower in Laporte, the county seat.
“It gets pretty good coverage, but we're we've been looking to expand it,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter and other county officials are focused on improving radio signals in the northeast around Mildred and Dushore, the county’s largest population center.
In February, the commissioners voted to sign a 99-year lease with the state for land for a new tower off Schlock Road. In March, they voted to pay Keystone Communications $205,255 for all the communications equipment that will accompany the tower. In April, they awarded a $224,507 contract to eciWireless of Dillsburg to build the steel tower.
In all, the county is spending $724,846 to set up a new 180-foot-tall tower off Schlock Road to relay radio signals. The money is coming from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, fracking impact fees and the 911 fee on telephone bills. The amount could rise if unexpected issues arise during construction, Commissioner Brian Hoffman said.
The American Rescue plan is the big COVID-19 relief bill Biden pushed through Congress in his first year in office. Counties got a share of that.
Yonkin, the Dushore chief, eagerly awaits the new tower.
“For example, in downtown Dushore, right on Main Street, it's difficult to speak to the county radio center, the county 911 center with a portable radio,” he said.
Yonkin said a fire officer who must use the truck radio loses the ability to see a situation properly.
“And so it really does detract from our ability to handle emergencies. You’re kind of tied down,” Yonkin said.
Carpenter hopes the new tower changes that soon.
“It's a work in progress, but I think mid-summer probably is going to be the best estimate,” he said.
