Hope Mills signs $500k deal with Motorola to replace fire department radios

HOPE MILLS, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Town of Hope Mills said it was making a major investment in its fire department.

The town is overhauling the department's radio system because of audio issues during drills and fire calls -- issues that fire officials say could be deadly.

"The radios that we currently have are the Kenwoods," Deputy Chief Robert Hulbert said.

Hulbert explained that these radios the town bought about four years ago work fine on their own. But they're not fully compatible with the newer Motorolas also used in the Hope Mills Fire Department and the rest of Cumberland County.

"What's happening is these radios, as they connect to the tower are not communicating with our Motorolas," Hulbert said. "So, what's happening on a fire scene is they'll be trying to relay information out to command and nobody can hear them."

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A communication breakdown like that could lead to disaster. That's why the Town of Hope Mills said it's entering into a $500,000 contract with Motorola to stock up on new radios.

"It is a lot of money, but one of the key parts of any municipality is public safety," said Hope Mills Mayor Jessie Bellflowers. "And you can't really put a price on public safety, especially when you have a need like the radios that we're talking about now."

Though fire officials said that no one has been hurt as a result of these radio problems, the department explained that it has tried to fix issues with its radio system's audio since it bought them for nearly $300,000 about four years ago. The town's board of commissioners voted to replace the old radios Monday evening after the system broke down again during recent training.

"It's almost embarrassing in a way in that training aspect because we have an issue that we needed to get fixed and it's prevalent when you're doing live fire operations that can go wrong at any time. And then not being able to communicate with your people on the outside is gut-wrenching," Hulbert said.

"I'm happy that we're getting them," said Lt. Doug Pearce. "...(W)e want something that's proven, that works and the only way to do that is to stay current with the times."

The town said those original Kenwood radios will still be put to good use even though they're not compatible with the Motorolas used throughout Cumberland County. The mayor said they will be donating the radios to one of the fire departments in the western part of the state that lost all of its equipment to Hurricane Helene.