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Massena fire station now the county’s backup emergency operations center

Posted 10/6/13

By ANDY GARDNER MASSENA -- The Village Board of Trustees gave the nod to an agreement with St. Lawrence County to designate the Massena fire station as the county's fallback emergency operations …

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Massena fire station now the county’s backup emergency operations center

Posted

By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The Village Board of Trustees gave the nod to an agreement with St. Lawrence County to designate the Massena fire station as the county's fallback emergency operations center.

Massena Fire Department Foreman Ken McGowan told the board the only cost to the village will be for Internet service, which it already pays. The bill will remain the same.

The county chose Massena because it has the Massena Electric Department and the station is manned 24 hours per day, seven days per week, according to McGowan.

He also said county officials cited the 150kW generator in the station basement owned by the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC), which would power the station in the event of a power failure.

The dispatch center will get reception from microwave signals beamed in from an antenna on top of Laurel Terrace.

McGowan said Massena’s firefighters will be able to use the dispatch equipment if they need it. He said their fire maps could eliminate guesswork from finding addresses while going to emergency calls.