AS WILDFIRES RAGED throughout southern California in recent weeks and hundreds of thousands were evacuated from their homes, wireless networks in the area saw dramatic increases in usage as well as some damage from the blazes. The increased usage included first responders who reported using the commercial networks as a back up for their own private wireless networks, though some
noted requesting help from carriers was complicated.
Public-safety officials said that their own wireless communications worked well, due in part to investments in increased capacity and coverage since the last round of serious fires several years ago. The fires burned more than 500,000 acres and have caused an estimated $1 billion-plus in damage. As of late last week, two fires were still burning in San Diego and Orange counties.
Wireless, VoIP users not notified
At one point during the fires, more than 500,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Authorities relied heavily on notification through a recently implemented reverse 911 calling system-however, the system only included wireline numbers, so customers who only used cellular phones or Voice over Internet Protocol services could not be reached.
“We didn’t even call those numbers, because we don’t have a database to call them,” said Lt. Phil Brust of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Last week, San Diego began offering citizens the chance to register their VoIP and wireless numbers for the reverse 911 service through the Web, so they can be reached with alerts in any future emergencies.
Brust added that in the time period since the Cedar Fire, the county had invested in updating its phone system to receive wireless 911 calls-instead of having to deal with a huge backlog of calls that went first to the California Highway Patrol and then were routed to the local department.
Chris Hinshaw, communications system manager for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the San Diego/Imperial County regional communication system, said the agency’s 800 MHz private mobile radio system performed well, and that first responders also relied on local wireless providers for back-up communication and administrative activity.
Simplifying contacts
Hinshaw did say that his job would be easier if the wireless industry cooperated to provide first responders with a single point of contact to deploy wireless resources, instead of being flooded with individual calls from vendors about possible resources that were available.
“If we had a centralized coordination point for the commercial carriers, that would be tremendously beneficial,” Hinshaw said. He added that when he needs a mobile cell site and, say, 100 phones in a particular place, he doesn’t care whose network carries the traffic-and the carriers are in a better position to know which network is strongest in that area anyway.
He also said that advance practice and coordination with some elements, such as mobile downlink command centers, would help agencies better integrate those resources into their operations during a crisis.
“It would make it a whole lot more functional for everybody,” Hinshaw said.
Hinshaw said the county added 20% capacity in its network’s western zones and 80% capacity to its backcountry zones and only reached capacity in one of its seven zones for a short time, without significant delays. Comparatively, the department had three regions during the Cedar Fire and all reached capacity. Interoperability went more smoothly as well, he added.
“This time, it was a lot more structured, more effective and there was a significant amount of sharing between state, federal and local entities as far as communications resources,” Hinshaw said.
He said that while wireless communication was cited as a problem during the Cedar Fire, improvements since then meant that “the difference was night and day.”
“I think wireless communication is going to get a good grade on this one,” Hinshaw said.
Tallying up the losses
All of the national carriers lost at least a few towers temporarily, mostly due either to burned fiber backhaul connections or loss of power.
Verizon Wireless spokesman Ken Muche credited clearing of brush around cell sites as one factor that helped the carrier lose none of its physical towers. He said the company had a maximum of 11 sites out of service at one time. Meanwhile, voice traffic on two of the busiest days of the fires increased 70% to 90% over the carrier’s normal levels.
Sprint Nextel Corp.’s regional VP of networks, Fazal Bacchus, said the company had less than 2% of its network sites down or out of service during the fires and was back up to 99% of the network running within 48 hours. CDMA voice traffic picked up by about 40%, and the carrier’s iDEN network carried an additional 30% of traffic, he said.
AT&T Inc. sustained substantial damage to its wireline network and as of last week had 1,000 technicians working to restore service, according to AT&T spokesman Brian Brokowski. The company’s wireless network came through the fires comparatively well, with about 40 sites needing restoration, Brokowski said. He added that 95% of AT&T Mobility’s network was up and operational in San Diego throughout the fires, along with 99% of its Los Angeles network.
Call volume on AT&T’s wired network increased as much as 60% over normal levels and data traffic doubled in the first few days of the fire.
T-Mobile USA Inc. said that it lost four towers.
