Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District staff have reoccupied a fire station near Breckenridge a little more than two months after health and safety concerns related to telecommunications equipment prompted it to close.
Out of an abundance of caution, Station 4 off Colorado Highway 9 closed Aug. 24 before reopening Nov. 2, according to a news release from the fire protection district on Dec. 1. Red, White & Blue says it enlisted an industrial hygienist to confirm radio-frequency, electromagnetic fields and indoor air quality levels were below exposure limits before reopening.
“The value we place on our providers’ health and safety is a direct correlation to their ability to provide safe and effective service to our community,” Red, White & Blue co-interim fire chief Jay Nelson said in a statement. “We did not take this decision lightly.”
The health and safety concerns arose after T-Mobile hung warning signs at Station 4 this spring following equipment upgrades, Red, White & Blue deputy chief of operations Drew Hoehn said in an interview Monday.
The signs read: “Beyond this point: Radio frequency fields from transmitting antennas at this site exceed (Federal Communications Commission) rules for human exposure.” They are required where the occupational radiofrequency radiation limit could be exceeded by a factor of more than 10, according to federal law.
“It plants a seed of doubt in our staffs’ heads working in that station that it may be an unsafe environment,” Hoehn said. “That is kind of our line in the sand with this. We want to eliminate that doubt and ensure our guys are working in a safe environment.”
In the past year, Red, White & Blue sent multiple legal notices to T-Mobile arguing that the company breached its lease at Station 4 by interfering with the fire station’s public safety operations, according to documents obtained through a public record’s request.
Last May, a lawyer for the fire protection district mentioned the warning signage in a notice to T-Mobile and wrote “the threat to firefighter health created by the T-Mobile equipment is creating difficulty with staffing the station, which negatively affects public safety,” according to documents.
A lawyer contracted by T-Mobile responded that the signage is mandated by the Federal Communications Commission “in connection with any licensed antenna facility that emits radio frequencies (RF) regardless of actual RF emission levels.”
Hoehn said that isn’t how Red, White & Blue understood the Federal Communication Commission statute listed on the sign.
“(T-Mobile) was telling us it was sort of a perfunctory placement done out of precaution — that they throw (the signs) up all the time — and we certainly didn’t agree with that,” Hoehn said. “That isn’t the way the law reads. We were asking them, really, to validate that statement. They really weren’t helping us validate or ensure the safety of our people, which was really frustrating.”
Red, White & Blue brought in two companies to assess various exposure levels — beyond just radiofrequency — at Station 4. One of the companies also completed similar evaluations of every station in Summit County but did not find any exposure levels that exceeded federal guidelines. The warning signage remains up at Station 4.
“The reporting we’ve received and the study we’ve been given indicates we have a safe environment,” Hoehn said. “We’re confident that they’re safe.”
While public records indicate that some Red, White & Blue board of director members briefly considered a lawsuit against T-Mobile, Hoehn said the fire district decided against engaging in litigation that could be drawn out and expensive.
But, citing “the cell providers’ disregard for the safety of our staff,” Red, White & Blue intends to ask its board of directors not to renew leases with T-Mobile and Verizon, the other cell provider at the site, according to the news release.
“It wouldn’t have taken much to work with us instead of opposing us,” Hoehn said. “We’re not going to continue that type of relationship.”
The suggestion to end Verizon’s lease stems from a wider concern in the international firefighter community about the potential health impacts of housing cell towers on fire stations, Hoehn added. The International Association of Firefighters, for example, says it opposes the use of fire stations as bases for cell towers or antennas pending more conclusive research on the subject.
A T-Mobile representative could not be reached for comment.
“It’s unfortunate, but I think at this point the ball is in our court,” Hoehn said. “And we’re resolved to keep our folks safe. That’s non-negotiable.”