The Mutual
Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) is an organization of hundreds of
fire departments in the Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. MABAS
provides an orderly move up of equipment to the scene of fires,
accidents or other incidents. Equipment is moved around
according to predetermined lists, called "Box Cards" Each card
covers specific types of incidents in specific areas. Small
towns may have a single Fire box card, larger towns may have
dozens. MABAS was recently adopted statewide in Illinois for
Fire and EMS Mutual Aid. More divisions are being added monthly
and eventually the entire state will be part of MABAS divisions.
Neighboring states are also joining, including Missouri,
Indiana, Iowa and Kentucky.
MABAS is
broken down into "Divisions" Each Division has a Headquarters
Dispatch and a Back-up Dispatch. When a department realizes it
can not contain an incident alone they contact the local MABAS
Division Dispatch and requests a "Box Alarm" Box Alarms have 5
levels, 1 thru 5. The first alarm, usually just called a "Box"
typically brings 2 or 3 engines, 1 or 2 trucks, and perhaps some
EMS or other specialized equipment. Also, "Chiefs" are assigned.
Chiefs (which might actually be Lt.'s, Captains or Deputies) are
assigned to various tasks like "Staging", "Rehab", "Safety", or
"Sectors". They report to "Command" (who is in overall command
of the incident). Command may be in a vehicle with a green
flashing light. MABAS has adopted the National Incident Command
system to coordinate scenes in an orderly and recognized manner.
This allows agencies that may be unfamiliar with each other to
work together under a unified command and with common
procedures.
When a
MABAS Alarm is requested the MABAS Dispatcher will send out
Plectron tones of 1082 Hz (1.5 sec.) and 701 Hz (3.5 sec.) on
the NIFERN frequency of 154.265 MHz. to set off alert receivers
at various fire dispatch centers. These tones are to be used by
ALL MABAS Divisions. Dispatch Centers will then listen to the
announcement and dispatch their equipment when requested to the
scene or to another station on a "Change of Quarters" After the
equipment is dispatched and en-route they notify the Division HQ
on NIFERN and all further communications are with MABAS. Once a
unit is at the scene they report in to Command. Most incidents
use a "Staging Area" where responding units will wait until
called to a position at the scene.
If the Main
Division HQ department can not handle the alarm then the
Division Backup will handle it. This occurs sometimes when the
dispatch center also handles the department that is stricken, or
perhaps has radio difficulties.
154.265 has
been designated as the Statewide fire mutual aid channel in late
2001 for Illinois, and will soon be called "IFERN" (Interagency
Fire Emergency
Radio
Network). With this change
there has been some changes proposed to the officially
recognized nomenclature of frequencies:
|
|
|
|
|
Designator |
Frequency |
Use |
|
IFERN |
154.265 |
Main Mutual Aid channel |
|
Red |
153.830 |
Fireground 830 |
|
Blue |
154.295 |
Fireground 295 |
|
White |
154.280 |
Fireground 280 |
|
"Green" |
150.790 |
Fireground 790 (Unofficial) |
|
|
|
|
|
Black |
154.2725 |
Fireground |
|
Gray |
154.2875 |
Fireground |
|
Gold |
153.8375 |
Fireground |
|
IFERN 2 |
154.3025 |
Alternate Mutual Aid Channel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
155.340 |
MERCI
340 (South) |
|
|
155.400 |
MERCI
400 (North) |
|
|
155.280 |
MERCI
280 (Inter-Hospital) |
|
|
155.160 |
MERCI
160 (Metro-East) |
|
|
155.055 |
IREACH |
Most VHF
Fire portables have the main dispatch channel as #1 and the very
last position as Fireground (Usually 153.830) so that the
firefighter can easily find the channels just by turning the
channel selector to the stops.
Power
output on any Fireground channel should be limited to 10 watts
or less to avoid interference between multiple scenes. All
agencies are responsible for making sure they hold current FCC
licensees on any frequency they operate on.
The PL's
listed are in the progress of being implemented. Eventually they
will be set for Receive and Transmit, but for now should only be
programmed to transmit only. All ambulances in the state of
Illinois are supposed to have 155.340 (PL 210.7) installed.
Other
frequencies may often be used as Fireground channels. Listen to
150.775 and 150.805 as well as any VHF fire channel. Sometimes
local government channels will be used, as well.
The above
has been heard in use by some departments already. Green 4 was
intended for use as a Landing Zone Coordination channel for
helicopters but that recommendation was not passed, and
helicopter operations are suggested to use either a MERCI
channel or IREACH. Since aircraft communications travel great
distances use of IFERN is not recommended.
There will
be many changes to MABAS as a result of the Homeland Security
initiatives. RED Center (MABAS Division 3) has been designated
the State of Illinois Emergency Operations Center for MABAS
operations and will coordinate the state?Ĵs Fire/EMS resources
in the event of a major event that results in the declaration of
a State Disaster.
Some
Divisions are more organized than others. Division 3 has a Haz-Mat
trailer that is fully equipped to handle most types of materials
that are found or transits the area. Other districts have
specialized vehicles or equipment that was purchased thru the
Division and used by any department in the Division. Some
Divisions have adopted unified numbering schemes. For example,
all departments in Division 3 share a numbering plan based upon
the one used by RED Center. RED Center is the HQ for the
Division and dispatches many of the departments in it.
An agency
will be a member of a single Division officially. This is to
keep statistics as correct as possible and to assure that
equipment rosters are only counted once. Any agency may respond
into any other division as need be and members of any nearby
Division may respond to a call for assistance.
With the
recent expansion of MABAS to areas that have not used 154.265
for Mutual Aid some variations may occur. The south suburbs have
historically used 154.280 for Mutual Aid, so not all departments
may be able to access 154.265 at this time.
MABAS was
started in 1968 by the Elk Grove Fire Department who borrowed
Chicago FD's existing Box Card system of fire management and
created a system for the suburban area. Most Divisions and
departments use the "Incident Management System" to manage fires
and incidents. Between this and other MABAS protocols followed
departments can work together to make sure that all personnel
are accounted for and all act as a single team instead of
unfocused individuals.
Most of the
information contained on these pages was obtained from
Dave Hudik,
Steve Rauter and the members of
CARMA and
FireNet-Chicago.
Please send any updates or corrections to me at
rich@n9jig.com so I can forward
it on to them. Also, if you wish to use this information for any
purpose other than individual knowledge please ask first. Many
hours were spent putting this all together by myself, Dave,
Steve and
FireNet-Chicago.
It is only fair that they get acknowledgment for the work
involved. Also, please be aware that this page is not official.
While the information herein is believed accurate at the time it
was written changes occur and errors creep in. I am not a member
of MABAS, nor do I speak for any MABAS member.
MABAS Divisions
|
Div. |
Main Dispatch |
Back-Up |
Area Served |
|
|
|
|
|
|
01 |
NWCD |
RED
Center |
Northwest Cook and SW Lake Counties |
|
02 |
QuadCom |
|
North Kane, NW DuPage Counties |
|
03 |
RED
Center
(Northbrook) |
Des
Plaines |
North Shore Cook & Lake Counties |
|
04 |
Lake
Forest |
Mundelein |
Lake
County |
|
05 |
Crystal Lake Regional |
McHenry Shf |
McHenry County |
|
06 |
DeKalb Co Shf. |
DeKalb City PD |
DeKalb County |
|
07 |
Kankakee Co. Shf |
|
Kankakee County |
|
08 |
Rockford FD |
North Park |
Winnebago County |
|
09 |
Chicago |
None |
Chicago |
|
10 |
Tri-State FPD |
Pleasantview FPD |
West
Cook County, SE DuPage County. |
|
11 |
Oak
Park |
|
Near
West Cook County |
|
12 |
DuComm |
|
DuPage County |
|
13 |
Tri-Com |
Kane
Co. Shf |
Kane
County |
|
14 |
KenCom |
|
Kendall County |
|
15 |
Wescom |
Will Co Shf |
Will
County |
|
16 |
Naperville 911 |
Naperville EOC |
Southwest DuPage County |
|
17 |
"RED Center" (Freeport FD) |
|
Stephenson County |
|
18 |
Ogle Co. Shf |
Rochelle 9-1-1 |
Lee,
Ogle Counties |
|
19 |
Orland Central Dispatch |
SWCD |
SW
Cook County, parts of Will Co. |
|
20 |
"Norcom"
(Northlake FD) |
|
West
Central Cook Co. |
|
21 |
Oak Lawn Central Dispatch |
SWCD |
SW
Cook County |
|
22 |
Blue Island |
|
SW
Cook County |
|
23 |
LivCom |
|
Livingston County |
|
24 |
Orland Dispatch |
Tinley Park, Homewood |
South Suburbs |
|
25 |
LaSalle Co 911 |
|
LaSalle County |
|
26 |
Douglas County |
|
Douglas Coles, Moultrie and Edgar
Counties. |
|
27 |
EastCom |
Will County |
Southeast suburbs |
|
28 |
MetCad |
|
Champaign County area |
|
29 |
Carroll County |
|
Carroll County IL |
|
30 |
Whiteside Co. |
|
Whiteside County IL |
|
31 |
Knox County |
|
Knox and Henry Counties IL |
|
32 |
CenCom (County 9-1-1) |
|
St. Clair County |
|
33 |
WoodCom |
|
Woodford County |
|
34 |
|
|
Randolph County |
|
35 |
|
|
Madison County |
|
36 |
|
|
Peoria County |
|
37 |
|
|
Iroquois County |
|
38 |
|
|
Ogle County |
|
39 |
|
|
Henry County |
|
40 |
|
|
Vermilion County |
|
41 |
MetCom |
|
McLean County |
|
|
TazCom |
|
Tazewell County |
|
47 |
|
|
Bond, Clinton, Fayette. Marion,
Washington and Wayne |
|
101 |
Kenosha Co Shf |
Salem Rescue |
Kenosha County WI |
|
102 |
Racine Sheriff |
Burlington (City) FD |
Racine County WI |
|
103 |
Walworth Co. |
|
Walworth County WI |
|
104 |
Rock County |
Town of Beloit |
Rock County WI |
|
|
Waukesha
County WI. |
|
Waukesha
Co WI. |
|
500 |
? |
? |
Will County Refineries |
|
|
|
Indiana |
Departments in the NW Indiana Area. |
|
|
|
Michigan |
Departments in the SW Michigan area |
MABAS APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT
ABBREVIATIONS:
|
ACID |
CHEMICAL SUITS |
|
AMBL |
MICU
AMBULANCE |
|
BAGS |
AIR
BAGS |
|
BOAT |
BOAT/DRAG HOOKS |
|
DIVR |
SCUBA
DIVERS |
|
ENGN |
ENGINE CO |
|
ESTR |
ELEVATED STREAMS |
|
FILL |
SCBA
CASCADE SYSTEM |
|
FOAM |
AFFF
FOAM |
|
FSTR |
FOAM
STREAMS |
|
GFIR |
GRASS
FIRE RIG |
|
HOSE |
LARGE
DIAMETER HOSE |
|
JAWS |
EXTRICATION |
|
MSTR |
MASTER STREAMS |
|
PROX |
PROXIMITY SUITS |
|
SCBA |
AIR
MASKS |
|
TANK |
TANKER 1000+ GAL |
|
TRCK |
TRUCK
CO |
