LAKELAND, Fla. — First responders have an arsenal of tools, but to Shannon Turbeville, few are as important as radios.
“Who wants to go into a burning building with no communication?” said Turbeville.
Turbeville, a longtime Lakeland firefighter and the President of Lakeland’s fire union, Lakeland Professional Firefighters (IAFF Local 4173), is pushing for a change to make radios work better after an incident in late August.
According to Turbeville and an email he forwarded to ABC Action News, firefighters had trouble using their radios while responding to a medical emergency in a warehouse on County Line Road.
He said firefighters were attempting to use their radios to contact a nearby ambulance crew when the signal failed. To treat the injured patient, Turbeville said firefighters needed tranexamic acid — a medicine used to stop blood loss — which was stocked on the ambulance.
In the incident's aftermath, the firefighter who wrote the email to a supervisor summarizing the mishap used "Radio Failure" as his subject line.
“The people that ran the call were rattled,” Turbeville said.
As Turbeville explained, the department’s radios sometimes have signal issues when they are used inside some large commercial buildings with thick walls.
Regardless of the August incident, that’s why Turbeville is pushing the city to equip its firetrucks with repeaters, a tool used to enhance and boost the radio signal.
According to Florida statute 633.202, many new commercial structures are responsible for installing their own repeaters, which the state refers to as "two-way radio communication enhancement systems."
However, on its website, the City of Lakeland says its Fire Department utilizes its own “in-vehicle repeaters,” meaning businesses will only have to install their own systems when the fire department’s repeaters “do not provide sufficient coverage.”
Turbeville, however, believes the city’s claim — that it “utilizes in-vehicle repeaters” — does not tell the whole story.
According to a memo Turbeville got from Lakeland’s city manager on Sept. 14, the city has one portable repeater. An in-vehicle repeater had been ordered at that time, and another was set to to be purchased during the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.
According to the memo, the two in-vehicle repeaters will be installed in the vehicles driven by two department battalion chiefs.
To Turbeville, that presents a problem.
“Having two repeaters, one on each battalion chief’s vehicle, does not provide the firefighters or the public the protection if that battalion chief’s vehicle is not on the scene when firefighters are making entry into the building,” he said.
Instead, he would like to see the city purchase additional repeaters so one can be equipped on a firetruck at each of the city’s seven stations.
His concern was echoed in a letter signed by both the International Association of Fire Fighters and Florida Professional Firefighters.
“They believe that there’s inadequate protection in Lakeland,” Turbeville said.
Adding to his concern, Turbeville shared with ABC Action News a City of Lakeland training document from last month which revealed signal issues at a number of Lakeland businesses, including the Publix store on Griffin Road, the Walmart store on S. Florida Ave., and the Amazon warehouse.
For several hours Monday, ABC Action News pressed the City of Lakeland for an on-camera interview, phone interview, or written response to the union's concerns.
Tuesday, the city finally responded in the form of an emailed statement from Lakeland Fire Chief Doug Riley. Riley largely dismissed the fire union's concerns.
Though Riley confirmed the city has just one repeater currently on-hand with two more on the way, he believes the city is adequately protected.
"Lakeland Fire personnel have been advised to report any deficiencies they experience with radio communications while in the field," Riley wrote. "We received nearly 28,000 calls for service in 2022, and, to the best of my knowledge, none of our personnel reported any difficulties with their radios while communicating from any business or building."
As for the incident at the warehouse in late August that prompted the union to raise its concerns, Riley said, "Public and firefighter safety was not in any way compromised."
When an address is documented to have signal issues, Riley said a battalion chief or rescue captain equipped with a repeater is now required to respond.
In his statement, Riley maintained that three repeaters is enough to cover the entire city and said that equipping all fire trucks with repeaters — as requested by the union — "would not be the most efficient, economical, or timely approach to the issue."
"However, we will continue to evaluate coverage and best practices to determine if additional repeaters are needed," he added.
As for the locations with poor signal, which were documented in the city training document last month, a spokesperson for the department clarified that those locations were not discovered to have issues during actual emergencies but through preventative inspections. In all, the department's prevention division has compiled a list of 12 addresses with signal issues.
Turbeville, meanwhile, was unswayed by Chief Riley's statement. He maintains that more repeaters are needed and they should be installed on fire trucks which often respond to scenes before a battalion chief arrives.
"Unfortunately, the Fire Chief fails to acknowledge the fact that having a repeater on only the battalion chief vehicles that are responding but not on-scene when firefighters enter the building provides no protection to the public or firefighters," Turbeville wrote.
