Remote Monitoring Beacons Secure Libby’s Emergency Communications

Lincoln County’s four mountain-top emergency radio repeaters carry all first responder communications across the county. But without a way to remotely monitor the propane-powered backup generators at each site, a generator failure can go undetected until radio service is lost entirely. During a recent disaster response, one such failure silenced communications for days while staff physically traveled to each site in search of the problem—a scenario that has occurred at least three times in the past year. Given the risk the gap posed to residents and every law enforcement officer, EMS provider, and firefighter depending on the network, one Lincoln County staff member reached out to LOR with a solution: remote monitoring beacons. LOR’s funding will help the Lincoln County Office of Emergency Management purchase and install remote monitoring beacons at all four repeater sites, allowing county staff to confirm in real time whether generators have started automatically or require a manual response.