After action notes including units dispatched, channels utilized, key individuals and incident benchmarks.Prepared by : Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC)

On the afternoon of September 19th, 2010, around 1300 hours, Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC) received several reports from citizens in the City of Herriman and surrounding areas that there were large amounts of light smoke in the area. They believed it was coming over the mountain from the south of them near the military base Camp Williams. Engine and Auxiliary 103 of the Unified Fire Department were dispatched to investigate. Within several minutes units arrived in the area confirming visible smoke from south of the mountain. Units were informed there was active weapons training at Camp Williams prior to the smoke being seen. Units responded to the top of Arnold Hollow and established that the fire was not near our jurisdiction and there were several fire breaks still in place. Additionally, information was received from Utah Valley Special Service District Dispatch Center (UVSSD) that the fire was confirmed to be on Camp William’s property and it was under control. At that time units advised they would be available for other calls but would continue to monitor the situation.

Full Report (1.06 MB) Requires a PDF Reader.

Approximately two hours later, VECC began receiving a large number of calls from citizens regarding a field on fire in the Cove area of Herriman. Most callers were reporting visible smoke only. With the information given it was believed to be the fire reported earlier at Camp Williams. However, because the Center was becoming inundated with calls, the on duty supervisors requested units respond and reassess the situation. Units were dispatched back out to the scene at 15:20 hours. After obtaining further information from Camp Williams and UVSSD, and gathering a current weather report, a full assignment was dispatched at 15:48 and Incident Command was established.

This was announced in a press release from the FCC.

Washington, D.C. — Today the Federal Communications Commission took action to help strengthen and improve the ability of Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs, or 9-1-1 call centers) to quickly locate wireless 9-1-1 callers and dispatch emergency responders to assist them during emergencies. More than 240 million 9-1-1 calls, or nearly two-thirds of all calls received by 9-1-1 centers nationwide, are made annually from mobile handheld devices in the United States. As more and more Americans rely on their mobile handheld devices, such as cell phones and smartphones, the FCC’s new rules are essential to ensuring that wireless carriers are taking the necessary steps to provide more accurate 9-1-1 caller locations.

9-1-1 call centers can readily pinpoint the address of most calls made from landline phones, but up to 40 percent of emergency calls made from mobile devices fail to provide accurate caller location information, known as Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) service. The Commission has unanimously adopted a Second Report and Order that requires wireless carriers to meet the Commission’s wireless location accuracy requirements in more numerous and geographically smaller areas. As a result, wireless 9-1-1 location information will be reported to PSAPs more accurately in many areas throughout the country.

The Order requires wireless carriers to provide reliability data on each 9-1-1 call upon the request of a PSAP, which will improve the ability of public safety personnel to assess the accuracy of location information. Most importantly, the Commission’s actions today will help save lives by enabling emergency response personnel in many places to reach people who call 9-1-1 from mobile devices sooner.

The Commission also unanimously adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) and Notice of Inquiry (NOI), as recommended in the National Broadband Plan, that explores how to further improve the location capability of 9-1-1 and E9-1-1 services for existing and new voice communications technologies, including new broadband technologies associated with the deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) networks.

The FNPRM seeks public comment on a number of issues, including whether the FCC should adopt a technologically neutral location accuracy standard, methodologies for verifying compliance, and how wireless 9-1-1 caller location accuracy can be improved in challenging environments, such as in high-rise buildings, urban canyons and mountainous and forested terrain.

The NOI seeks public comment on whether to require interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers to automatically identify the caller’s location, rather than requiring the caller to self-report his or her location, and whether other forms of VoIP services should be subject to the 9-1-1 rules. The NOI also focuses on the potential impact of future NG 9-1-1 deployment on location accuracy and automatic location identification.

Additionally, the NOI explores whether to extend 9-1-1 and E9-1-1 requirements to new and emerging voice communications services, devices, and application enabled by broadband technologies.

Action by the Commission, September 23, 2010, by Second Report and Order (FCC 10-176). Chairman Genachowski, and Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn and Baker. PS Docket No. 07-114. Action by the Commission, September 23, 2010 by Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry (FCC 10-177). Chairman Genachowski, and Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn and Baker. Public comments may be filed in PS Docket No. 07-114 and WC Docket No. 05-196.

Separate Statements issued by Chairman Genachowski, and Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn and Baker.

Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau contact: Patrick Donovan at (202) 418-2413, or via email at Patrick.Donovan@fcc.gov.

Source: Original Press Release

REVERSE PHONE NOTIFICATION for HERRIMAN WILDFIRE

September 21, 2010 – 3:30PM

During the Herriman (aka Machine Gun) wildfire that began on September 19^th, VECC (Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center) was asked by the Salt Lake County Emergency Management to send out a reverse phone notification.

There are multiple vendors that offer reverse phone notifications systems. The vendor that VECC uses is Plant/CML, (DCC) formerly Dialogic Communications Corporation.)  Often you will hear this notification referred to as reverse 911, that is inaccurate as Reverse 911 is an actual company name.

There were two reverse notifications sent out by VECC.  The first one, sent out at 5:50PM, was for the initial area identified for evacuation.  The second one, sent out at about 8:10PM, was for the additional area identified for evacuation.  To VECC’s knowledge no other reverse notification systems were utilized.

Plant/CML’s (DCC) mass call system can make 500 calls per minute.  For this particular activation two attempts (three minutes apart) were made to each number.  The phone numbers that are a part of the basic file are hard phone lines.  Recognizing that citizens may or may not have hard phone lines, we have provided a way for them to register cell and/or VOIP phone numbers via our webpage (www.vecc9-1-1.com).

We encourage citizens who live in the areas we serve (South of 2100 South to the Point of the Mountain & east of the Tooele County border to Parley’s Summit as a rough east borderline to include Emigration Canyon) to go to our website to register their cell and/or VOIP phone lines, even if they have a hard line phone, by accessing the link on the VECC webpage.  We also commend the citizens who have taken advantage of this service to help them be informed in the event of an emergency.

Concerns have been expressed that approximately only 60% of the residents within the evacuation areas received the phone notification.  This figure is based on a report from DCC.  However, that report must be interpreted to have an actual picture of the success of the notification.  From the report we know that a minimum of 60% of the calls were successful – many of the remaining 40% were also successful but from the manner in which the data is compiled by the system, it is impossible to state an exact number.

Things that will lead to an unsuccessful call:  1- No answer of any kind; 2- Disconnected phone numbers still in the phone company database; 3- Message intercepts (i.e. resident has changed their number for whatever reason & there is a phone company message that give an automatic new phone number); 4- Busy phone line (someone actually using their phone at the time of the call); and 5- Because the message is recorded, some people who answered the phone hung up without listening to the message.

Additionally, we have been told that some people choose to block long-distance area codes.  This is problematic because the calls are currently generated at the site of the vendor (which is outside the 801 area code) so the calls displayed a 615 area code.  Calls may also appear to come from the area code 000.

VECC encourages everyone to register their cell and/or VOIP phone numbers through the VECC website.  Additionally, we will have a booth with people that will help citizens register their cell and/or VOIP phone numbers at the Emergency Preparedness Fair this Saturday (9/25) from 11AM – 3PM at the SLCo EOC 3380 S 900 W .  Additional information regarding that event may be found on the Salt Lake County Emergency Management website: ww.slcoem.org.

Attached you will find a copy of the text of the reverse notification phone messages, as well as, a copy of the instructions to register cell and/or VOIP phone numbers found on our website.

By calling Emergency 911 you can save a life, stop a crime or report a fire. However, there are certain situations when calling 911 can actually endanger someone else’s life. That’s why it’s important to know when it’s appropriate to call 911, and when to contact local non-emergency authorities. Only Call 911 when you need to:

• Save a Life.
• Stop a Crime.
• Report a Fire.

Nearly ten percent of all calls made to 911 are non-emergency calls. There are even some 911 call centers reporting non-emergency calls as high as 40 percent. These calls occupy emergency lines and can threaten the security of another caller. Non-emergency calls include calls regarding roadside assistance, civil disputes, road conditions, power loss, animal issues, travel directions and thefts that have already occurred.

PROVO — Picture yourself sitting at a desk with six telephones. Let’s say two start ringing at the same time. A bit awkward, but manageable. Now, imagine all six phones ringing off the hook for three hours. Think you can handle it?

Gigi Smith, of Utah APCO, talks with Mike Veenendaal of Valley Emergency Communications Center after the incident of the Year award.

Provo’s dispatchers did on Feb. 17, 2008, when a fiery explosion rocked the Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co., shaking homes for miles around and prompting a flood of calls to 911. “With all those lines going off, I don’t know how they were able to do it,” said Provo Police Lt. Jeff Lougee, who was dispatch manager at the time. “It was multitasking at its utmost at that moment.” The Provo City Communications Center, the Valley Emergency Communications Center and the DPS/Box Elder Communications Center were all honored Friday by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials for their calm yet quick responses to emergencies during the 2008 year. “What the dispatchers do every day is so important,” said Gigi Smith, president of the Utah chapter of APCO. “(To some) they’re just a voice behind a telephone. But people don’t realize what they do in a day’s work.”

Source: The Deseret News