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- Friday - Dec. 20, 2024 - Rural firefighters’ spotty radios eyed for improvement
Friday - Dec. 20, 2024 - Rural firefighters’ spotty radios eyed for improvement
Tyler Olsen
December 20, 2024
🌧 High 9C
Good morning!
The Current is going silent over the holidays. You’ll get one more issue on Monday, then we’ll be taking the rest of the month off to be with our families. This is something we’ve never done before—and not just as The Current. In our previous newspaper jobs, we’d get a few extra days off over the holidays, but would still need to be around to produce a paper or two—whether or not anything of news was actually happening. (This is why your media content tends to be filled with year-in-review content around now.) This year, our parent company has decided that instead of sending newsletters over the holidays, we can recharge our batteries.
We are both stoked to join the class of those who get an extended holiday, even if, as holiday-working jobs go, being a reporter the day after Boxing Day was probably one of the easiest gigs out there. But we’ll have to stay on our guard. Working hours and conditions are a weird thing. You get into your routine and can start to just kind of assume that everyone’s work life is similar. It can be easy for someone who works nine-to-five to think that such conditions are “normal” or routine. But our lives—and holidays—are often facilitated by those with different work schedules and demands. Some are obvious. Others are not. Even the electricity that powers the TV with which we’ll monitor Santa’s progress depends on people working on Christmas Day. So as we prepare to take a week off, here’s a holiday salute to all those making it possible. Thank you!
– Tyler
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NEWS
What we got right—and wrong—in 2024
Despite touting itself as an “award-winning” journalism organization, the Fraser Valley Current botched a major pre-election preview, scrambled to meet human resource targets, and failed to meet all its goals in 2024.
That’s the eye-catching lede* we could write for today’s self-review of The Current’s past year. (So we did.) But that doesn’t make it fair. Because, as we look back at 2024, it turns out the last year was pretty darn good for our little news outlet.
The end of a year is a good time to look back at one’s own successes—and failures. So that’s what we’re doing today.
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Related
Need to Know
🚔 The disappearance of a Langley woman in October is now being treated as a homicide [CTV]
❌ An Abbotsford composting company was fined more than $100,000 for polluting ditches in the Matsqui area [Vancouver Sun]
🔊 Several literacy programs for immigrants have lost federal funding; some of the programs help people in the Fraser Valley [CBC]
❌ Mission council nixed a proposed 104-unit housing development on Monday [Mission Record]
👉 Excavation work at a Langley cemetery hasn’t disturbed any headstones or graves, the Township says [Langley Advance Times]
👍 A purported leak at a Harrison Hot Springs sewage station turned out to be a false alarm [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]
🌉 Army reservists will again be practicing their bridge-building skills in the Cultus Lake area later this month [Chilliwack Progress]
🥁 Abbotsford company Drumeo has released a documentary on legendary drummer Phil Collins [Drumeo/YouTube] / We mentioned the interview in our profile of Chilliwack Drumeo interviewer Brandon Toews in June [FVC]
🚑 A man was found dead outside of a Mission food bank earlier this week [Mission Record]
🌲 ‘Tis nearly the season to throw your Christmas tree in the chipper; Langley has many charity tree-chipping events slated for the coming weeks [Langley Advance Times]
🚜 A Chilliwack man who dramatically crashed his tractor while participating in an anti-SOGI protest has been charged with various crimes [Chilliwack Progress]
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The Agenda
Volunteer firefighters that snuff out blazes in the valley’s rural communities currently use an aging radio network with reliability issues. 📷 Fraser Valley Regional District
Rural firefighters may finally get more-reliable radios
The radio network used by rural firefighters in the Fraser Valley is under the microscope.
There are technical limitations to the Fraser Valley Regional District's analog radio network, according to a report from the FVRD's Nov. 28 meeting. The network's reliability is also a concern, FVRD staff say.
As the population of the Fraser Valley grows, the district is asking staff to come up with a replacement plan.
“A strategy should be developed for how and when the FVRD 9-1-1 radio network is replaced as all technology has a functional lifespan,” staff wrote.
Although the analog radios are industry-approved, many emergency response teams now rely on digital programs like Platform 25 (P25), which is becoming the new standard for public safety radio networks.
In 2020, the Abbotsford Fire Department became the 16th fire department in the Lower Mainland to join the P25 network operated by E-Comm, the organization that handles most 9-1-1 calls in BC.
Both analog and digital radios transmit signals using frequency modulation (FM) waves. But digital radios reportedly have a longer range and clearer audio compared to analog ones.
The FVRD will conduct an independent assessment of its radio network next year. A budget specifically for fire dispatch services will be included in the district’s 2025-2029 financial plan. However, it’s too early to tell how much the potential digital switch will cost the district.
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🗓 Things to do
Langley lights: Holiday Lights in Williams Park are back this year as a drive-through event from Dec. 9 to 29. Tickets are free, but advance registration is required. Registration for Township of Langley residents opened Nov. 22. Registration for everyone else opened Nov. 29. Details online.
Subdued Christmas: Musician Robert Sarazin Blake presents A Very Subdued Christmas at Bozzini's in Chilliwack on Saturday, Dec. 21. The concert includes songs and stories that have a holiday theme. Tickets and details online.
Sweeney songs: The Sweeney Singers present their annual Christmas concert at St. James Catholic Church in Abbotsford on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 7:30pm. The family choral group has been performing in Abbotsford for 36 years, and is now joined by a third generation of singers. Details online.
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