The Catskill Fire Company switched over to new high-band pagers Nov. 7, silencing the distinctive wail of the historic village fire alarm, probably for all time.
The upgrade is part of a multi-million-dollar countywide project that will increase coverage for firefighters.
Municipal fire departments have to purchase high-band radios and pagers, while Greene County Emergency Services upgraded its computer-aided dispatch system for $2.4 million and also upgraded the radio towers.
The project was funded in part by grants through the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
“Our pagers would trip 50 percent of the time on low-band,” Assistant Fire Chief Patrick McCulloch said. “High-band uses all the towers. Now they will trip no matter where we are.”
McCulloch has been able to use the new system in Albany, Ulster and Columbia counties, he said.
“It’s a hundred times better,” he said. “There are no dead spots.”