Tumwater Fire Department to tap into TCOMM 911’s modernized alert system 

The Tumwater Fire Department is getting a new alert system to better protect the health of its personnel. 

The Tumwater City Council approved an interlocal agreement with Thurston 911 Communications (TCOMM 911), the county’s centralized emergency dispatch agency, at a meeting on Tuesday, July 15. The agreement enables the fire department to utilize the agency’s network, which powers a modernized digital alerting system. 

Fire Chief Brian Hurley said the department has been using its current alert system for 25 years. With the existing system, the alert goes off in all spaces in fire stations, letting everyone know of a situation even though it's not necessary.  

Hurley said fire departments have been transitioning to a digital alert system in recent years, such as US Digital Design’s station alerting gateway controller, which TCOMM 911 uses. 

Hurley said the gateway controller involves the use of multiple redundant systems to notify the appropriate team of an incident. 

With this system, all the rooms in a fire station will be programmed so the alert only goes off in the room of the team that needs to respond.  

The volume would gradually increase instead of coming off loudly to allow firefighters to wake up in better condition. The system also incorporates the gradual blaring of lights, digital information boards, and alerts that may be sent to the personal phones of responders. 

Hurley saidthe new system will lead to improved response times, as the crew would have better situational awareness than if they were to wake up from a sudden alarm. 

He added studies have shown over the years that traditional alarms are unhealthy to firefighters who have to wake up multiple times in their 24-hour shifts. 

“The idea of jolting awake two or three times a night is very hard on your body. Heart disease and heart attacks are one of the major line of duty death issues in the fire service,” Hurley said. 

Instead of purchasing its own gateway controller, the agreement would allow the city to use TCOMM 911’s existing gateway. Hurley said the agreement is beneficial for Tumwater, as the cost of each gateway unit is around $50,000. 

Hurley said funding for a new alert system in the city’s main fire station at Israel Road has already been budgeted, while the alert system for the North End Fire Station on Linwood Avenue will be replaced as part of its remodeling. 

Radio updates 

The council also approved another agreement with TCOMM 911 so it could set up a Wi-Fi terminal at the city’s police station on Israel Road. The terminal would allow public safety personnel to receive software updates on their radios. 

The updates are a continuation of the Thurston Communications Emergency Radio Network project, which involved the TCOMM 911’s transition to a digital radio system. 

Hurley said the new system is up and running, but requires periodic software updates for about 150 radios. TCOMM 911’s plan involves establishing various sites in the county where crews could park their vehicles to update radios. 

Hurley said the updates would only happen once or twice a year, and they would coordinate which vehicles come and go at the police station.