The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

Sweet Home Fire & Ambulance District Chief Nick Tyler reported to the fire board Tuesday, Feb. 21, that the district can't communicate effectively in town, much less along the Highway 20 corridor, with its current radios, which it inherited from the Albany Fire Department and the Polk County Fire District some 20 years ago.

He further explained that according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health's fire service line of duty death investigations, a lack of communication, specifically with radios, was one of the most consistent causes of failures. For that reason...