False alarm at depot rings in new phone system

This story was published Tue, Jan 11, 2000

By Terry Hudson
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - The false alarm Dec. 30 at the Umatilla Chemical Depot brought at least one change in the warning system that recently has come under fire.

Officials have upgraded what had been easily jammed phone lines between the Hermiston Safety Center, the depot and other emergency operation centers locally and statewide.

On Friday, state microwave lines were added at the safety center, allowing Hermiston dispatchers and emergency responders to communicate simultaneously with the depot and several other operation centers in case of a chemical emergency, or in case of a false alarm.

"We took red phones down there and that system is up and running," said Chris Brown, the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness (CSEPP) coordinator for Oregon Emergency Management in Pendleton, which oversees the depot's warning system. "That's a big step for Hermiston. They are now on the primary system that the other sites have."

For years, Hermiston has had a direct line to the depot. The safety center is part of system that allows simultaneous communication between emergency operation centers at Hermiston's safety center, the depot, centers in Heppner and Pendleton, Salem and Benton County in Washington.

But the safety center recently implemented a 911 enhancement project, and Brown said the center has been on a less reliable backup phone system ever since that project was installed.

The backup system reverted to the safety center's business line after four rings.

Molly VanCleave, the senior dispatcher at the safety center, said the backup system was doomed during the false alarm because hundreds of people called 911. Dispatchers are mandated by the state to answer 911 calls first. Meanwhile, the backup all-call system would simply revert to the business line after four rings.

That left emergency responders unable to communicate with the depot or other local emergency centers. On Dec. 30, it was nearly half an hour before Hermiston officials found out what happened.

The false alarm occurred when a Morrow County CSEPP official was attempting to activate a highway readerboard near Boardman to display a message warning motorists of icy road conditions.

The incident is being investigated, but either a wrong button was pushed or there was a problem with the control panel, which activated the system.

On Friday, a separate line on the state's microwave system was installed. It rings on a separate red phone.

"Previous to this incident, the plan was there to install the system," said Hermiston Fire Chief Jim Stearns.

"It was scheduled to be done in late February. After this last incident, there was a priority to move that up and it got done. It doesn't ring unless the depot or another CSEPP emergency operations center wanted to talk to us."

Two red phones were installed and ring only in connection with the other emergency operations centers.

"With the new line, once that phone rings it's a priority call," VanCleave said. "Now the dispatchers will know what it is. Before, it was just a regular business line, and they had no idea."

The untimely activation of the warning system forced the hand of Oregon Emergency Management and the phone company.

"It's been some time coming and the catalyst has been public safety," Brown said. "We had to rely on U S West and they have been supportive. When we said this is in the interest of public safety, they cooperated and came to Hermiston."

Ed Brookshier, Hermiston's city manager, saw the communication line improvement as a first step.

"That was one of the immediate issues that had to be addressed," Brookshier said. "Now it's time to move on to the next one. As long as we stay focused on these aspects of the overall system, the improvements that need to be made will happen."

Brookshier listed the overpressurization of the safety center and the distribution of tone alert radios as high priorities.

 

Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.