Are there any Firefighters on this site?

[Lorrie]

I have a police scanner and I have asked a policeman, and they said they didn't know, I have asked a sherrif and they said they didn't know, so I am assuming it is the Fire Department that issues "CONTROL" Numbers....

Is there a fireman out there that knows what "CONTROL 1", "CONTROL 2", "CONTROL 3" and "CONTROL 4" Mean?

I am of the impression they designate a firestation or call center... But I don't know. Anyone know?

[tezor]

Ok well it goes like this, the dispatch channel is Redcom, that dispatches all of the fire departments to whatever call they need to respond to. Control 1 ect, is the way that the dispatch center keeps all the calls organized. If you have a fire in Santa Rosa, an accident in Glen Ellen, and a medical aid in Occidental, all at the same time the radio traffic would overwhelm any one channel. So they set it up with several "Control" channels. We also have other channels to talk to the other firefighters on scene without talking to the Control channels. Any other questions? Enjoy, tezor

[jgblair]

Hi,

I am a volunteer firefighter in Occidental. Here is a short explanation of how the system works:

There are three main levels of radio traffic in Sonoma County used for fire and medical. The first is the main dispatch center for fire and medical calls in most of Sonoma County (some areas of the county such as Petaluma prefer to do it themselves) which is called Redcom. When a call comes in, Redcom dispatches and pages the required units based on their computer's recommendations on the main dispatch channel (called REDCOM). Since each unit has to report on the radio that they are responding and receive dispatch instructions, there is a lot of radio traffic related to each call. This additional radio traffic is done on a control channel, which is the second level. We have four control channels: Control 2, 3, and 4 depending on which area of the County the incident is in and Control 5 for multi-agency, multi-unit incidents in in central Sonoma County and Sonoma Valley areas. In West County, Control 2 is used most of the time. If there is a major incident with lots of radio traffic, then new calls will be bumped to another control channel until the other is available. Santa Rosa mainly uses Control 3 for example. The third level are the 15 tactical channels which are used by the incident commander (IC) to talk to incoming units or used by the units to talk to each other (to direct traffic at an accident for example). Some of the tactical channels are shared with CDF, which also has its own command channels that are used for most vegetation fires which fall under their command. In addition there are a few medical channels for ambulances to use.

To find out more, Google "Sonoma County Frequencies" and Redcom (separately). You can get all of the unit designations, actual frequencies, and more information that will help to understand what you are hearing.

I hope this helps.

John



I have a police scanner and I have asked a policeman, and they said they didn't know, I have asked a sherrif and they said they didn't know, so I am assuming it is the Fire Department that issues "CONTROL" Numbers....

Is there a fireman out there that knows what "CONTROL 1", "CONTROL 2", "CONTROL 3" and "CONTROL 4" Mean?

I am of the impression they designate a firestation or call center... But I don't know. Anyone know?

[Graton Fire]

Hi Lorrie,

Almost all fire and ambulance agencies are dispatched by REDCOM (Redwood Empire Dispatch COMmunications). We receive our calls on "REDCOM" aka the main channel. After being dispatched, we respond on a control channel based on geographic location (North/West County- Control 2, Santa Rosa- Control 3, South/East County- Control 4, Control 5 is only used during large disasters). What's nice is that Fire and Ambulance are on the same channel, so we can provide patient updates, specific directions, etc. In addition, we can hear what our neighboring agencies are doing as we may get called for mutual aid. For larger incidents (fires, major vehicle accidents), REDCOM assigns a tactical channel (Tac 1-15) for on-scene communication so we don't clog the control channel.

If you have further questions, just post them or send me an email privately.


Bill Bullard, Deputy Chief
Graton Fire Protection District
3205 Ross Road, P.O. Box A
Graton, CA 95444

mailto:[email protected] ([email protected])
https://www.gratonfire.com (https://www.gratonfire.com/)
707-823-5515 ext. 3
707-823-7251 fax



I have a police scanner and I have asked a policeman, and they said they didn't know, I have asked a sherrif and they said they didn't know, so I am assuming it is the Fire Department that issues "CONTROL" Numbers....

Is there a fireman out there that knows what "CONTROL 1", "CONTROL 2", "CONTROL 3" and "CONTROL 4" Mean?

I am of the impression they designate a firestation or call center... But I don't know. Anyone know?

[Lisa G]

Hi all,
REad the descriptions of radio traffic with interest.
I am an Emergency Medical Technician (well I was, I expired and am not about to take the national registry - never let your certs. expire!)

I also teach health and safty (CPR, First aid etc.) and do video production

Two things: I have thought a short educational film about our local EMS system would be both fun and informative and have been wanting todo one for some time. Have no idea who to write a proposal for funding to.

have seen a number of films some alright, and maybe one or two actually any good.
Judging by the dialogue here and in my classes I think there would be an interst for both the public, and for various departments to have something available to show. (it is called: 9-1-1, what is your emergency and Ihave written an outline)

Can anyone tell me who to direct an inquiry for a funding and proposal to?

Next, my scanner has banks - ten sets of ten. I can turn them all on or select any. I set it up so each set was a different agency or area and a few were the local tactical channels so i could follow an incident if I was within transmission range. (I used to sit on my roof! fun and better reception)This helped to keep from being overwhelmed by traffic and to choose to just hear the dispatches or not.

Since there have been changes
in radio system and since i hadn't used it in awhile i need to reprogram and having difficulty locating frequencies for tactical, and for hospital bases.

Is there a one source for all the frequencies and assignments - I remember there used to be a big booklet with many counties in it and all kinds of channels - parks, maintenance (actually interesting and educational) as well as EMS.
Does anyone remember this and where could I get it with current info?

Thanks
Lisa

[jgblair]

Hi all,

Is there a one source for all the frequencies and assignments - I remember there used to be a big booklet with many counties in it and all kinds of channels - parks, maintenance (actually interesting and educational) as well as EMS. Does anyone remember this and where could I get it with current info?


Lisa,

If you Google "Sonoma County Frequencies" (with the quotes), this is the first listing that comes up:

https://www.scancal.org/sonoma/sonoma.html

John
John G. Blair