Communications

City of London Fire Communications handles emergency fire and rescue calls for the City of London as well as Middlesex County. This office runs 24 hours a day and has 12 communicators, working on rotating 12 hour shifts.  Also part of the division is an Electronics Technician who maintains sensitive radio and computer systems.  A supervisor oversees day to day operations. The first priority of the on-duty Communicators is the answering of all 20 emergency fire telephone lines including the line designated for calls from the hearing impaired (TTY). Calls are received via 7 lines for 911, 5 lines for 519 433-0111 (the emergency line used by alarm monitoring companies located outside the 911 area), or through 10 direct lines to other services (e.g. alarm companies, University of Western Ontario, Ambulance etc.).

The capability exists to transfer County calls to the Ontario Provincial Police or ambulance should other emergency services be needed, rather than requiring the caller to redial. There are an additional 4 non-emergency lines which are often quite busy with calls intended for other divisions or civic departments.  They are often the only ones available to the public after business hours.

Communications dispatch and monitor movements by radio frequency of 24 emergency fire vehicles and 5 non-emergency service vehicles in the City of London and also 16 volunteer fire departments in Middlesex County. London is also the back-up communications centre for Strathroy-Caradoc fire dispatch.  Currently 12 radio channels are monitored including 7 city frequencies, 3 county frequencies and the Ontario Fire Marshal's frequency.

Communications and Information Services Supervisor, Mary Ann Scherer
519 661-2500 Ext. 4567