Soledad, Calif- A communications tower for Monterey County was seriously damaged in the Gloria fire. The flames quickly spread in an area filled with power lines. It made fighting last month's fire difficult, and even now, it's still causing problems.
When the flames crest over the mountains in Soledad, fire engulfed power towers like this one. On Bryant Hill, the fire damaged a key communication center for much of South County, "We see that the microwave radon's have heated up and melted and they've also created some damage in warping to those dishes that are on the tower," said Lee Hollingsworth, the manager for radio communications with Monterey County.
The signal is still working, helping to connect 911 dispatch to first responders such as police, and ambulances, but the signal is weak, "If we got fog or rain we would probably loose the signal all together so where going to have to replace everything that's down there," said Hollingsworth.
Towers like these are key to staying connected across the Central Coast. So, if this form of communication goes down, back up plans go into action and that can slow down response, "Being able to communicate in a timely manner will sometimes mean the difference between life and death depending on the emergency," said Commander Mike Richards, with the Monterey County Sheriff's Department.
So far, there haven't been any major problems but the county would like to repair the tower as soon as possible. The bill is expected to be more than $100,000 to get everything running correctly, "It has been declared a disaster area so we will be applying to the state for funds to actually replace the equipment that's on the tower," said Hollingsworth.
