Wading River Fire Department seeks approval for communications tower

Facing ongoing communication challenges and a growing threat to the safety of first responders, the Wading River Fire Department is looking to build a communication tower at its headquarters to strengthen its emergency correspondence. 

Co-sponsored by Elite Towers and Verizon Wireless, the Wading River Fire District has proposed to build a wireless communications facility, equipped with a 190-foot concealment pole, at its firehouse at 1503 North Country Road in Wading River.

The fire district’s communications antennas at the top of the structure would bring its total height to 213 feet, and Verizon Wireless plans to install three of its own antennas at a centerline height of 185 feet as well. Seven antennas are reserved for future carriers, according to the application.

All of the wireless antennas will be hidden within the concealment pole, which is designed to create a stick-like effect to minimize visibility. The plans feature additional site improvements such as an storage room in the building, a 174-square-foot equipment area on the roof and a natural gas generator.

“It is essential that everyone understand that the primary function of this communication tower — not a cellular tower — is to address the safety of our first responders and subsequently, the community that we serve,” fire commissioner Terrence Culhane said at the public hearing earlier this month. 

Gregory Alvarez, an attorney from Amato Law Group which is representing the fire district, Elite Towers and Verizon Wireless, said the application was initially filed in September 2023. At this latest public hearing, Mr. Alvarez spoke about the fire district’s request for a zoning exemption through a nine-part process called the Monroe Balancing Test. 

The current Riverhead Town code requires such applications be brought to the Town Board, planning board and zoning board for various approvals. Mr. Alvarez said the balancing test would allow the application to proceed past these “hurdles.”

In situations where a public or government entity is seeking approval for a project to improve their property, the Monroe Balancing Test can be used to evaluate the nature of the project, its impact on the local community and how the public would benefit. All of these components then determine whether or not the project should be exempt from local zoning rules. 

“It all comes down to one word, and that’s ‘need’,” Mr. Alvarez said. “It’s not just a mere annoyance, it’s something that has seriously impaired the fire district’s ability to communicate and do its job on a day-to-day basis.” 

With low lying areas and heavy tree coverage surrounding its headquarters, Mr. Culhane said the negative impact to radio communications puts the Wading River first responders at “an extreme disadvantage” and their lives “in jeopardy.” 

So far this year, the Wading River Fire Department has responded to nearly 1,300 emergency calls, and there have been a few hiccups with its communications. 

For example, Mr. Culhane recalled a structure fire that occurred earlier this year on North Wading River Road. Firefighters on the scene were roughly a quarter mile away from headquarters but could not get through to the firehouse dispatcher or the Suffolk County Fire Dispatch, which impacted their ability to request additional units and provide medical updates to local hospitals prior to patient transport. 

More recently, a member of the fire department suffered a head injury after slipping and falling in a stairwell. When another member tried to call for help on his cellphone, there was no service. 

“Due to the nature of the injuries, he could not leave that individual to use a landline in the fire headquarters to request help. Luckily, another member came while he was stabilizing the injured party,” Mr. Culhane said. “These are just a few of the many incidents that highlight the immediate need for this communications tower.”

The fire district is also allowing at least two cellular service providers access to the tower for two reasons: to allow emergency medical personnel to transmit medical data to hospitals prior so immediate care can be given once ambulances arrive at the scene, and to provide better cellular coverage overall to the area. 

Mr. Culhane said the fire district has offered the town an opportunity to put up a tower for the Riverhead Police, which has also struggled with servicing the Wading River area due to limited communications.

Riverhead Police Capt. Danielle Willsey said police radio transmissions around North Country Road by the Wading River Duck Pond are “very sporadic” and calls are often dropped.

“There are many residents who don’t own landlines anymore. Cellphones have become much more predominant right now, and with the inability of a cellphone to get through, you’re not going to be able to get any help,” Ms. Willsey said. “We still always send an officer to the last known location, but without being able to get all their updated information, it will be a delayed response in getting people help.” 

The fire commissioner acknowledged a push made in 2010 to erect multiple cellular towers in the Wading River area. At the time, sites at Little Flower Children and Family Services, the East Wind complex and the grounds of St. John the Baptist Church were all denied due to community opposition and lack of transparency in the process, Mr. Culhane said. 

“Our goal today, as it’s always been, is to be as transparent as possible to explain the absolute need for communication enhancements,” Mr. Culhane said. 

Several Wading River residents at the public hearing expressed concerns about the project, specifically the possible health risks from exposure to the proposed tower. A few criticized the lack of notification about the proposal and claimed they were only made aware of the project 10 days before the public hearing. 

Joanne Romano, who lives right next to the firehouse, said she is not against the project itself and understands the need for better communication, but felt that with “more time and effort,” alternative locations for the pole could be investigated. She currently has around 25 petition signatures from other residents who feel the same. 

She cited the International Association of Firefighters‘ opposition to the use of fire houses as base stations for towers and/or antennas that emit cell phone transmissions until better studies on the health effects of exposure to low intensity radio frequency or microwave radiation are conducted.

She said although she had limited time to research before the public hearing, Ms. Romano said her findings showed instances of firefighters getting sick after exposure to these emissions.

The FCC changed its regulations regarding radio frequency radiation exposure in 1996, but Ms. Romano said they have not been updated since then, despite a U.S. Court of Appeals order to do so. 

“I am at least requesting that we wait for these findings to come back from the FCC with the updated regulations to how much radiation we can accept without getting cancer,” Ms. Romano said.