Fire chief not using available radio unit

However, Barrow County chief Dennis Merrifield told the Barrow Journal last week that he is not using the unit, because it is inoperable.

“While he did loan us a piece of radio equipment, it is not the same model or type of Motorola radio…,” he said. “Its functionality is not the same and cannot be used for that purpose.”

When informed by a reporter that Jackson’s director, Steve Nichols, had told the newspaper that the unit was working properly on March 9 when he personally delivered it to Merrifield, the Barrow County chief responded: “What do you want me to say? I’m sure it worked when Jackson took it out of service and placed it into storage. But it did not work when we tested it here.”

However, Nichols said a radio doesn’t become operable on a different frequency until the operator pops in “channel elements” that cause it to function on the new operator’s licensed frequency.

To read the full story, see the Barrow Journal's March 21 print or online e-edition.