New Equipment To Improve Emergency Communication Across Towns

A recent grant awarded to the Town of Amherst will better prepare the town for emergency situations.

The Department of Homeland Security awarded a $123,780 grant that will pay for a tower/radio communications project linking the Amherst and Bedford emergency communication centers.

Amherst Fire Chief Mark Boynton said the grant is non matching, which means it is one hundred percent funded. The new equipment will be put onto an existing US Cellular tower on Walnut Hill.

Boynton said that this project allows the towns to dispatch for each other if something catastrophic were to happen, and is another step in connecting all the towns under one network.

Emergency communications in Amherst have all switched to narrow band in order to be compliant with new FCC regulations, according to the fire chief.