Firefighters across Jefferson County are better able to communicate with each other and law enforcement agencies after receiving 88 multi-frequency radios with funding from the Department of Homeland Security.
Bob Wilson, chief of Jefferson County Fire District No. 2, on Monday finished delivering the portable and base radios.
The 88 units came with a $58,000 price tag.
The radios will allow improved communications during car crashes, fires and other emergencies, Wilson said.
In the past, each fire district had different styles of radios, making it difficult to communicate with each other during an incident.
The money was the first allocated through the regional homeland security council that includes Jefferson. Clallam and Kitsap counties.
More important
Wilson said he had to persuade leaders of the regional council that the radios were more important — and would have a bigger impact — than using the allocation to purchase command vehicles for law enforcement agencies in each county.
“The big thing was that law enforcement bought off on our need,” Wilson said Monday.