LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A recently awarded grant will support the purchase of hundreds of emergency weather radios for county residents living in the Valley fire area.

State Farm gave a $10,000 grant to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services for the purchase of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather alert radios.

State Farm Insurance Agent Nanette Dutcher formally presented the check to Sheriff Brian Martin at the Board of Supervisors' Feb. 16 meeting.

Martin said the Valley fire spread very quickly, taking down landlines, with people in the fire area reporting that they didn't receive the phone alerts from the sheriff's office.

However, one thing that wasn't affected by the fire was the sheriff's office's ability to transmit radio messages, Martin said.

Dutcher said State Farm felt it was important to support proper communications and to be prepared for the next disaster.

Undersheriff Chris Macedo told Lake County News that the donation will allow OES to purchase approximately 333 of the radios, which the county will receive in two shipments.

He said 40 of the radios will be outfitted with a flashing strobe light for people with hearing impairments, Macedo said.

Macedo plans to purchase Midland WR120 models. The radios allow users to receive emergency alerts from the National Weather Service, which Macedo said is looking at putting another repeater at the fire station in Hidden Valley Lake.

Macedo said the radios will come with programmed frequencies plus the capability to add more.

The company's Web site said the radio offers alerts for more than 60 kinds of weather hazards and emergencies.

In addition, OES will be able to send out alerts through the Integrated Public Alert Warning System, or IPAWS.

In January, the Lake Area Rotary Club Association gave OES a $3,000 grant to pay for a contract with an approved commercial software provider to access IPAWS, used by federal, state, territorial, tribal and local authorities for emergency alerts, as Lake County News has reported.

Macedo said the radios will provided a redundant service, in addition to other alert services OES offers.

He said he doesn't envision OES having to use the radios' alert system hardly ever.

Due to the limited number of radios available, Macedo said he will begin distributing them to people who live in the fire footprint first, with proof of residence required. If any radios are left, people adjacent to the fire area can apply.

The radio shipments are expected to come in within the next few weeks. Once they arrive, Macedo said he will announce the giveaway and instructions for acquiring them.
 
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