Westford’s emergency radio station ready for winter

Mass Innovations, from The Beacon

Westford, a town of roughly 23,000 that is no stranger to snow emergencies, is heading into its second winter armed with the power of the airwaves.

In the age of Facebook, Twitter and reverse 911 calls, Westford is using tried-and-true AM radio to communicate with residents during emergencies. Radio station 1630 AM covers about 90 percent of the town’s nearly 32 square miles, according to Tim Whitcomb, police operations manager and emergency management co-director, who planned and implemented the station along with Fire Chief and Emergency Management Co-Director Joseph Targ.

Broadcast messages are recorded in the town’s dispatch office and then looped on the 1630 kHz broadcast frequency, which by law broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Whitcomb said. Those recorded messages can include information about school openings and closings, trash pickup, shelters, emergency supplies, hazardous weather alerts, and more.

The messages could seem redundant, considering Westford also has Code Red reverse 911, a Facebook page, and Twitter accounts to push out information. But the possibility of power outages makes the radio station an important tool.

Town Manager Jodi Ross credited Whitcomb for bringing the idea of a town radio station to the attention of the local emergency planning group. When asked about the beginnings of Westford’s station, she recalled the devastating ice storm of December 2008.

“Our power was out for several days and we had a difficult time communicating with residents,” Ross said. “Once their power was down or cellphones lost power, we had a hard time getting information out. We had kind of a campaign where we actually gave out hand-crank radios to seniors and people in need, and then had others available for purchase.”

[Westford residents can still purchase from the Health Department a 72-hour emergency starter kit that includes a crank radio for $45.]

Ross added that some residents prefer not to get reverse 911 calls, and the radio station gives them another way to get information.

“This is a way for people to tune in and get more information,” she said. “It’s less intrusive. We don’t need to call and tell you each bit of latest news.”

The town now uses shorter messages on its reverse 911 calls, while advising residents to tune in to the radio station for more in-depth updates, Whitcomb said.

The town budgeted $36,000 in capital appropriations to create the station, according to Whitcomb, who noted that some grants are now available for similar projects. The station required the purchase and installation of an antenna and a transmitter, the hiring of the local municipal power company to install a telephone pole, and an electrician for minor wiring work.

“We needed a suitable location for the antenna and transmitter,” he said. “The antenna need not be in the highest location, but it can’t be next to buildings or obstructions. We bought a telephone pole and mounted the antenna on it and trenched the cable into the building [Town Hall and the Police Department]. The transmitter was located in the Police Department boiler room.”

The station was up and running just in time for last year’s record-setting winter. Ross said Westford was one of the “jackpot” areas for storms, but fortunately never had the power outages that plagued the town during the 2008 ice storm.

The radio station was advertised through the town manager’s monthly newsletter and a lighted sign in front of the police station.

According to Information Station Specialists’ website, several Massachusetts communities are also broadcasting emergency information on AM radio, which Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said is a boon to his agency.

“Any additional layers of communication to the public during these events are welcome, particularly at the grassroots level,” Judge said. “We push out a great deal of information to local officials during these events with the hope that it is shared with their citizens, be it through social media, websites, reverse 911, or emergency/commercial radio stations, which can be key if power goes down.”

For now, Westford’s station can only be heard using a traditional radio, but the town hopes to stream it online by the end of the year, Whitcomb said.

Ross said she has even considered whether volunteers might like to broadcast “some historical anecdotes or other things that might be interesting to residents other than just emergencies.”

For more information, contact Tim Whitcomb at the Westford Police Department at (978) 692-2161.