The Latest Communications Equipment for the Fireground and Beyond

Mark English retired as fire chief of the Cedar Rapids, IA, Fire Department (CRFD) in 2018. Included in the legacy that he left with the department was his directive early in his tenure that headset systems be investigated for installation in all of the CRFD’s apparatus. The agency’s scrutiny and testing of multiple systems led to departmentwide implementation soon after. The system that was selected, including a couple of manufacturer updates, was satisfactory for a while, but maintenance became problematic. This prompted CRFD District Chief Curtis “Wally” Walser and his team to explore the market, with a goal to minimize, if not eliminate, maintenance issues. When the department purchased a new Engine 1 in 2024, it made a system switch, speccing Setcom’s LiberatorMAX multiperson intercom system. The maintenance issues that the CRFD experienced with the previous system haven’t emerged.

Walser tells Firehouse that the department was impressed enough with the system’s use on Engine 1 that when issues with the system that was installed on two existing apparatus began to be too onerous, those were replaced with the LiberatorMAX. As well, a new aerial that’s scheduled to be delivered in July 2025 also will include the system.

Among the performance traits of LiberatorMAX with which Walser is particularly pleased is its simplicity.

“Once the headsets and the base were set, I didn’t have to explain to anybody how to change channels,” Walser says. “With the previous brand, it was very common that when we had to swap out hardware I would have to verbally go through or demonstrate the pairing process. The LiberatorMAX ended up being a relatively plug-and-play system.”

The CRFD’s experience in terms of simplicity with the LiberatorMAX echoes that which other fire departments and suppliers shared when Firehouse dug into the communications equipment sector.

Simple sophistication

When the CRFD installed the LiberatorMAX into the two existing rigs, it did so inhouse, and it was one of the more simple swap outs that Walser encountered.

No doubt, that’s music to the ears of Setcom’s Lori Oquendo. “With our legacy system, if a department was doing a four-member-crew wireless system, four to six components had to get installed inside of the fire truck. With LiberatorMAX, it’s just one box. That goes with our trend of simplicity.”

Carter Star, who is a firefighter/paramedic with the Letcher, SD, Volunteer Fire Department (LVFD), also speaks to simplicity when he explains the agency’s purchase of BridgeCom Systems’ AnyTone portable radios at the start of 2025. Instead of adding cost to the purchase by having the radios preprogrammed, Star programmed them himself. Helping to enable him to do that was his ability to piggyback off of the work of nearby Woonsocket Volunteer Fire Department (WVFD), which operates with the same radios, and its list of channels. This also illustrates the value of a department checking with neighboring agencies about their experiences.

“We can build our own frequencies and radio channels without having to pay anybody to do it,” Star explains. Furthermore, “Woonsocket had awesome luck with [BridgeCom’s] customer service, and when I went to get the radios unlocked, I had a call back from the owner within an hour.”

Like the plug-and-play functionality that Walser encountered when the CRFD switched its in-vehicle communications system, the same performance is what’s provided by Firecom’s aptly named Grab-&-Go portable wireless system. In addition, when the system is used with the company’s clip-to-belt Connect module, Bluetooth headsets can be employed, with the typical short range of those products being alleviated significantly.

“With our system, once you connect a headset, it’s very rare that you would ever have to re-pair it,” Firecom Public Markets Manager Ted Billick tells Firehouse.

One example that Billick shares: a hazmat technician who is in a hazmat suit. “It might not be practical to wear full ear domes inside of a hazmat suit,” he notes. “The Connect would allow that person to patch in through the whole system” while wearing a headset or earbuds.

Although Firecom Connect was developed to provide a lightweight solution for EMS and chief vehicles, usage has evolved to include technical rescue, drone teams and other low-noise scenarios in addition to hazmat.

Simplicity, including in regard to safety, is present in the design of SED Technologies’ Rescom Elite rescue communication system. Designed for confined-space and high-angle rescue scenarios, the wired system includes Combined Safety/Communication Ropes, which are high-
performance life-safety lines that incorporate a built-in communication wire. The system meets CSA and UL standards as well as ATX and IECEX for intrinsic safety, as the company’s two previous Rescom systems do, but also meets the more stringent requirements of the European marketplace. This is important for rescuers who often don’t know the severity of the environments in which they will operate.

Including because technical rescue incidents can involve responders from different departments, the system’s intuitive design is important, both for the department that owns the system and for members of other departments that will respond and utilize the system for the first time.

“It must be straightforward and simple to use,” SED Technologies President Rolf Eberl says. “Our system has one control on it: volume. Too much equipment these days has two buttons and any combination of presses for volume up, volume down, power off and, potentially, mode select. It just goes on and on. You can’t put that into somebody’s hands who never used it before and expect them to be able to work in a safe and confident manner.”

It’s with the same reasoning that the system was designed to employ the same connectors on both ends of the cable for attaching to a junction box, cable wheel or the like. Another consideration in the simplification realm: Microphones are live all of the time.

“If, say, a technician is overcome by gases, others will hear the telltale sounds: the person will grunt, air tanks hitting the floor or wall and so forth,” Eberl adds.

Affordability

Unsurprisingly, pricing on portable radios can vary widely. Premium units incorporate premium features—for example, encryption, high-temperature functionality and immersion leakage resistance. Range is a factor, too. This was of concern when Star and his fellow LVFD volunteer firefighters needed new units.

Surely not news to many volunteer members, the LVFD’s budget is extremely tight, so much so that LVFD firefighters paid for their own radios. With the cost of premium models being outside of the individuals’ price range, the moderate outlay for BridgeCom Systems’ AnyTone 878 portable radio was another appealing aspect to Star, but he couldn’t risk the range of a “dollar-store walkie-talkie,” as he puts it.

“The range has been awesome,” he states. He is in a particularly good position to know this, given that he also serves on the Mitchell, SD, Fire Department (MFD), which is a career department and has the budget to afford to equip members with premium radios.

“It’s kind of scary how similar in range the BridgeCom radios are to the radios that I use at Mitchell,” Star notes.

Elaine Kochanowicz is the owner of BridgeCom Systems. She tells Firehouse, “The requirement of many state systems to buy radios in the $4,000 and up range has left many smaller and rural communities at a disadvantage. The AnyTone 878 is a lot more cost-effective.”

Kochanowicz concedes that the radio lacks the kind of coating that might be found on other radios to increase their resistance to extreme heat, but firefighters’ putting the radio underneath their turnout coat to provide protection and run a lapel mic to the outside somewhat offsets the absence of the coating. Star notes that he does that even with his more expensive radio when he responds with the MFD.

Up until recently, Firecom was known for its onboard communications equipment, but its Grab-&-Go was developed after the company received feedback and requests from departments that were looking to use Firecom technology in training.

“The transportability of the Firecom portable system has allowed departments to purchase one system for multiple uses versus buying multiple systems for each application,” Billick explains. “The system can be transferred between second-line vehicles that aren’t used every day, for example, from a UTV to a brush truck or a drone team or for ventilation training evolutions. This allows for an affordable solution for many agencies.”

Stay tuned

Each of the suppliers with which Firehouse spoke says that it continually seeks input from departments to keep its finger on the pulse of agencies’ evolving needs, and each confirmed that its engineers have projects on the drawing board. Unsurprisingly, the suppliers are keeping future advancements close to the vest. Setcom’s Oquendo, however, did share that her company just started working on enhancing the clarity and volume of LiberatorMAX.
SED Technologies’ Eberl says the company will introduce a version of its wired system that has an 11 mm rope.

“A lot of the fire service is moving toward 11 mm rope,” he notes. “It’s lighter weight. It’s easier to manage. It doesn’t have as much bulk. That means that it’s a single-person rope.”

For certain, departments should expect communications equipment companies to be unsurpassed when it comes to attentiveness to their customers’ needs.