Ham Radio Class Brings in People from All Over Mendocino County:

During the Redwood Valley fires, communication in rural areas was limited and in some cases nonexistent. One of the only ways people could consistently communicate with each other was through ham radio, which doesn’t require wire or fiber infrastructure to operate. So when the Mendocino County Office of Emergency Services put out a call for assistance during the fire, ham radio volunteers from all over Mendocino County worked together with emergency response services to deliver critical messages throughout the area. Many operators went to help at hospitals, medical clinics, shelters, high schools and the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds. The lack of available communication during the fire made many seasoned volunteers realize that adding more ham radio volunteers for emergency and nonemergency radio broadcasts would help the county. Communication services often struggled to have operators available for the 24-hour shifts during the fires to send and receive messages. So in March, the Mendocino County Amateur Radio Communications Service, a group of amateur radio enthusiasts interested in emergency radio awareness and communication, decided to start offering free amateur radio operator training classes.

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