Sterling Fire Department seeking federal funds for critical radio upgrades

STERLING – The Sterling Fire Department may soon receive a long-overdue upgrade to its communication system that could vastly improve coordination with local law enforcement and enhance firefighter safety.

Nearly four years after the death of Sterling Fire Lt. Garrett Ramos during a rural Rock Falls house fire in December 2021, the department remains focused on closing gaps in its emergency response capabilities.

While the immediate cause of Ramos’ death was ruled asphyxiation after falling through a floor during the blaze, a deeper issue emerged in the aftermath: communication breakdown. At the time of the incident, his radio had been set to a frequency that prevented him from being heard – a delay that may have cost him his life.

Now, thanks to a Congressional Funding program championed by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the department has been placed in an approval position for a $420,000 request to replace its outdated radios. Sterling Fire Chief David Northcutt told Shaw Local that the measure is expected to move forward for a vote.

“The grant is for portable and mobile radios,” Northcutt said. “We have applied for a lot of money this year for new SCBA’s [self-contained breathing apparatus], a new tender [tanker], and a new aerial [truck]. All of these purchases are just as important as our communications considering we have radios currently.”

The core issue facing SFD’s communication system is incompatibility with other agencies’ technology.

Northcutt said that when the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Office switched to StarCom radios for all police agencies in the county, the SFD lost its direct communication link with them. That disconnect now requires emergency dispatchers to manually switch channels between fire departments and law enforcement, an inefficient process that could cost precious moments during an emergency, and in the worst cases, a firefighter’s life.

“Due to the amount of radio traffic police have, and the amount we have, we can’t always use the same channels, nor scan each other,” Northcutt said. “It’s a slow and at times confusing task to switch channels in the middle of an event.”

The solution: Dual-band radios – the same technology that Northcutt said is now used by the Sterling Police Department. They would allow both departments to communicate directly, without relying on dispatchers to serve as go-betweens.

However, SFD’s limited budget capacity has placed these dual-band radios, which can cost upward of $16,000 each, out of the department’s reach.

If approved, the federal funds would allow Sterling to bring its radio communications in line with surrounding agencies and current safety standards.

“This would allow us to have each other’s channels in our portables,” Northcutt said. “We wouldn’t have to go through dispatch to try and coordinate in the middle of an emergency.”