“Push has come to shove” in the West Burlington Fire Department, and Chief Mike Heim is taking action.
The hand-held, two-way radios continue to malfunction and Heim got permission from the city council last night to trade the “Verteks” for “Kenwoods”, at no cost to the city…
“For right now the Verteks radio works 45% of the time. If we can that up to 60% of the time I will be very happy. We’re trying to upgrade before someone gets hurt or killed. We’re gonna get them switched out. Will it fix our problem? No. Will it improve it? Yes.”
Heim has said in the past that the underlying problem is the narrow-band frequencies local departments have been required to use, and he’s prepared to deal with that too.
In other WBFD news, captain Andy Nebergal has been demoted to firefighter, at his own request. Also, Justin Curtis has resigned.
The department is also getting some carbon monoxide meters and more protective gear.
