By Stephen Wall
San Bernardino County Sun

GRAND TERRACE, Calif. —Six years ago, someone spilled a bottle of a powerful pesticide at a vacant home near Terrace View Elementary School.

The winds caused a nasty smell to drift onto the school grounds. Even though the odor was harmless, authorities were concerned it was a chemical spill.

Police, fire and ambulance personnel descended upon the scene, and 20 children were sent to hospitals as a precaution.

Acting City Manager Steve Berry remembers all the commotion among the emergency responders.

"When I was there that day, listening to the radios, the cacophony was unbelievable," Berry said. "Everybody was talking to each other. The frequencies got jammed."

Berry wondered what would have happened if there had a major disaster, such as a fire or earthquake.

"I realized we needed we needed a rapid communication system that was reliable and inexpensive," said Berry, who is now acting city manager as well as assistant city manager. "We can't rely on cell phones or land lines to work in an emergency. Those aren't dependable."

As a result of that incident, and with 9/11 still fresh in people's minds, the city stepped up its emergency preparedness program.

The city bought 30 radios that to help city staff members and volunteers with the Community Emergency Response Team communicate with residents during a disaster.

Grand Terrace used a $5,000 federal grant from the Department of Homeland Security, plus $2,600 of its own money, to buy the radios.

The two-way battery-operated radios look like walkie-talkies but are more powerful, with a range of 3 to 5 miles, Berry said.

"If anything happens, we have instant communications," said Vic

Pfennighausen, who runs the city's Emergency Operations Center.

The money also was used to buy five base stations that function like cell-phone towers to ensure coverage throughout the city. The stations are set up at City Hall, the fire station, the Child Care Center and the Senior Center. A fifth station is portable and can be operated from a car battery.

The base station at the Emergency Operations Center behind City Hall is run on a generator.

Berry said the city is also looking into the possibility of operating its own short-range AM radio station that would provide live broadcasts in an emergency.

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