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Shirley hall gets signal boost

Fire hall in Shirley will have better telecommunications coverage
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A new paging repeater for Shirley

Radio communications got a boost in the Shirley area thanks to a new paging repeater and the collaboration of  the Shirley Fire Department, Capital Region Emergency Service Telecommunications (CREST), Western Forest Products, BC Hydro, CRD’s radio technologist Peter Breen, MLA John Horgan and Regional Director Mike Hicks.

The repeater was installed onto an existing BC Hydro tower, situated on Western Forest Products’ land  by the Capital Region’s emergency communications provider, CREST Inc.

“The new repeater extends coverage and will make a huge difference for fire and rescue personnel relying on pagers to call them out for emergency services,” says CREST general manager Gord Horth. “Given its remote location, solar panels will provide the power needed to operate the equipment”.  “We’re expecting a vast improvement,” said Shirley fire chief Marty Gilbertson. “The new service will be a great benefit to us, particularly for those firefighters in hard to reach areas. We used to have blind spots where members weren’t able to get page-out calls.”

This is a classic example of everyone working in one direction with a terrific outcome” said Hicks. “I want to thank everyone and especially C.R.E.S.T for recognizing the problem and investing in the solution.”