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Fire district expresses cell tower support

The Point Roberts fire department is officially endorsing a cellular telephone tower on parks district property.

At their July 12 meeting district commissioners unanimously approved a motion to draft a letter of support for a proposed agreement between Point Roberts Parks and Recreation District and Verizon Wireless that would see the cellular telephone provider lease parks district land to erect a transmission tower with the intention of improving local cellular telephone service.

“Is it beneficial to the fire department to have better communications? The answer is definitely yes,” said fire chief Bill Skinner. “There are a number of issues, especially on the emergency medical service side, where it would be extremely beneficial.”

The department often deals with medical emergencies in locations where they have no access to a land telephone line, Skinner explained. Without cellular telephone service in most areas of Point Roberts, emergency service providers cannot transmit data on patient condition to the emergency room doctors, or receive instructions from them in return. In addition, he said, the district’s radio system is not compatible with the Delta fire department, and a telephone is needed to activate mutual aid.
“We have always had difficulties in certain parts of Point Roberts,” said commissioner and former fire chief David Gellatly. He suggested the sheriff’s office would also benefit from the improved communication possibilities.