Improved 911 service part of Mount Aeneas work
Improved 911 service is on its way to communities around Flathead Lake despite a helicopter crash near Mount Aeneas last Thursday.
A Bell 407 helicopter piloted by a Two Bear Management employee from Whitefish crashed on the east side of Mount Aeneas last Thursday. Sheriff Chuck Curry said two county employees riding the helicopter were going to install equipment and change frequencies in a building on top of the mountain in an effort to improve 911 dispatch service in parts of the county around Flathead Lake. The county received approval from the Federal Communications Commission a couple weeks ago for a one-year permit that will enable it to use five watts of power from the antenna for its 911 service, according to Jack Spillman, communications systems manager for Flathead County.
The county should be able to install the necessary equipment and adjust the frequencies this week, Spillman said. He had to get some of his equipment out of the wrecked helicopter, said Spillman, who was one of two county employees in the helicopter when it crashed.
“I’m doing great,” Spillman said, noting he was not injured. The other two occupants of the helicopter were not injured.
The county tested repeaters on Mount Aeneas and Swan Hill last summer, Curry said. The Mount Aeneas repeater tested better, Spillman said.
Mike Shepard, who is on the county 911 Board, said the Federal Communications Commission is not allowing the county use to the frequencies it was testing. Spillman attributed that to a mixup with the FCC or or APCO, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, a subcontractor the federal agency uses in approving permits. Spillman said the county initially came to agreement with the U.S. Forest Service and Optimum, which owns the building on Mount Aeneas where the antenna is housed.
The county applied for a permanent eight-watt permit last year, but until that is approved the five watts of power should be enough to improve 911 service, Spillman said.
The FCC approval process was also lengthened by having to get approval of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission since the signals from Mount Aeneas may reach across the border.
Flathead County officials say emergency signal service in the valley is spotty around Bigfork, Somers and Lakeside. When the county switched to an all-digital system several years ago, that left some areas without emergency radio service. Curry has said that the digital system operates based on line of sight, which is an issue because of mountains in the area. Using an antenna on Mount Aeneas should fix that problem.
The improved 911 service will affect communications used by fire, emergency medical service and law enforcement, including federal agencies such as the FBI, Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.