Members of the Coconino County Amateur Radio Club (CARC) in Arizona activated on July 21 as winds accelerated the Museum Fire beyond 50 acres, triggering the activation of the county’s EOC. Members of the club, many of them ARES volunteers, staffed the EOC.

“The club has a great working relationship with Coconino County,” said CARC’s Public Information Officer Dan Shearer, N7YIQ. “CARC’s ARES component has a dedicated position in the EOC structure and has assisted on many incidents over the last few years, providing communications to field personnel when cell and radio coverage is limited or nonexistent.” Shearer said Amateur Radio equipment and antennas are stored at the EOC, and CARC members have been trained to set it up and have everything operational within an hour of activation.

The fire grew larger than 500 acres and became a top fire-fighting priority. A Type 1 Incident Management Team took over the fire-fighting effort late on July 22, and more than 12 Hotshot crews (teams highly trained in all aspects of fire management), fire engines, water tenders, and aircraft were engaged in suppressing the blaze. Residents in some neighborhoods were ordered to evacuate, although no homes and structures were lost.

There were fears that the fire might overrun communications sites on Mount Elden, which include public service, private, and Amateur Radio repeaters. “The loss of one or both of these complexes would have been catastrophic,” Shearer said. CARC members were prepared for the risk and quickly assembled spare equipment, including extra radios and repeaters. Air tankers dropped many loads of fire retardant around the repeater sites, and the exceptional work of the fire crews prevented the fire from running up the slopes to the complexes, Shearer said.

The Coconino Amateur Radio Club is an ARRL Affiliated Club with about 50 members. Its large ARES component regularly trains and conducts SKYWARN and ARES nets weekly.

“CARC personnel provided well over 250 hours in support of the Museum Fire disaster response and in direct support of the joint EOC,” Shearer said, adding that the EOC professional team and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey expressed their appreciation to CARC operators when the governor visited the fire operations.

The ARRL Board of Directors, committees and administrative staff have focused on enhancing the venerable ARES program. A major ARES Plan was adopted, providing new direction going forward. A standardized training plan was adopted and a new ARES Emergency Communicator Individual Task Book was approved and published.

Last month, the Board considered the report of its Public Service Enhancement Working Group (PSEWG). A “change log” is proposed for the Task Book that will highlight changes made as the book is periodically revised and updated. ARES position guidelines were posted to the on-line ARES workbook and major revising and updating of ARRL’s Introduction to Emergency Communications course (now designated as IS-001) has been completed. [The course is now available at no cost to any ARES registrant, and a “tutorless” format has been added as a parallel path for completing the course. Additional tutors were successfully recruited to help handle the huge initial interest as the changes were extremely well-received by the field organization. A “challenge” path directly to the final exam is also being implemented.] Similar updating and introduction of IS-016 – Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for Radio Amateurs — will follow in the next few months.

The ARRL HQ staff has brought veteran Ohio Section Manager Scott Yonally, N8SY, on board to assist in the implementation of ARES Connect and to field questions about the new software package from users.

The League’s Ham Aid program was reviewed, with some modest revisions to procedures. Most recently, the PSEWG has begun its examination of the future role of the League’s National Traffic System in concert with ARES. A brief survey of selected SMs, STMs and SECs is to provide a beginning point for a more extensive analysis of the program. This review and evaluation is expected to be a major part of the PSEWG’s efforts in the upcoming months.

A Board Ad Hoc EmComm Manager Requirements Report specifies the job requirements of a new position at ARRL HQ — Director of Emergency Management — who will lead a team responsible for supporting the ARES program and will work with HQ staff to develop standards, protocols, and processes designed to support the Field Organization.