The Charlotte Fire Department’s Communications Center went back on line just after midnight Friday morning August 11, after being off line for about three hours. A lightning strike around 9 p.m. Thursday damaged the uninterruptible power source (UPS) at Station 1 and caused the computer aided dispatching system (CAD) to go down. Fire Communications’ backup plan was quickly implemented, with telecommunicators relocating to the communications centers at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and MEDIC. Telecommunicators from all three centers worked together to ensure that emergency response did not suffer because of the problems.

 

Employees from Business Support Services’ Information Technology Division and Radio Shop responded to Fire Communications and were quickly able to make the necessary repairs. They are to be commended for their speed and competence to ensure that Fire Communications was quickly back up.

Capt Rob Brisley CFD PIO # 704.336.2094