HARMONY - Poor radio communication hampered rescue personnel during the flooding of Sept. 17 and 18 in the Harmony-Zelienople area.

"We had major communication problems during the flooding," said Tim Sapienza, Harmony Volunteer Fire Company chief.

He said rescue volunteers had trouble listening and talking to each other.

Despite the communication problems, the company, with assistance from the Neshannock and Unionville fire departments, assisted on rescuing 32 people and nine dogs and cats. No residents had any serious injuries.

"They risked their lives in difficult currents. They all did a tremendous job," said Sapienza of the volunteer firefighters. Some spent 30 to 40 hours without rest helping the residents escape rising waters from the flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan.

"It was a great job considering the lack of a new communication system," he said.

Because Sapienza works for Penn Power, he was on-call dealing with electrical problems during the flooding. He was able to come in and help other volunteers with the relief efforts several days later.

The county is in the middle of replacing its outdated radio emergency communications system with a new $6 million system. The new system should be in use by the end of December, county officials have said.

Emergency service personnel also got more good news this week as the county commissioners voting to fast track building the new 911 center on the Sunnyview Nursing Home Complex in Butler Township.

The $1.2 million, one-story, 8,300-square-foot building and a four-bay garage could be under construction by the end of the year and completed within six months.

"We've been pressing the county for three years for a new communications system, and it's still not in service. They're telling us a new console has been installed and they are testing it at the 911 center," said Sapienza. "They hope to have it up and running by mid-December. We had hoped it would be in place sooner than it is."

One of the other problems with the current system, he pointed out, is most of the equipment is outdated and replacement parts and products are hard to find. Most fire departments aren't willing to spend money to replace the equipment, which will be obsolete when the new communication system is installed.

Frank Matis, director of emergency services for the county, said the county has already begun testing the system. Fire companies will be given new equipment in a few weeks to get familiar with the new radio system before it is used countywide.

The county has budgeted $6 million for the communications project, with $3.5 million allotted to Motorola for equipment installation and service.

"We've had a chance to test it," said Matis, "and we're very impressed by it."

The county will have 10 tower sites, which will give emergency crews radio coverage from one end of the county to the other, said Matis.

The new communications system is expected to cover between 95 to 98 percent of the county and eliminate the "dead spots," said Sapienza.

Other fire departments had also experienced problems with the old communication system in southwestern Butler County.

Mark Nanna, Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Co. administrator, said the department uses its own frequency because of the airways traffic on the county's currently system. He said the township would hope to use the new communications once it is installed and operational.

A problem with radio transmission signals from the Butler County 911 Center had forced emergency crews in both Harmony and Zelienople to man their stations around the clock in March. Problems with a transmitting tower on Textor Hill Road in Jackson Township caused emergency personnel pagers not to function.

Because the equipment at the towers is old, replacement equipment took time to find. The new communications equipment is expected to minimize such problems in the future.

But the new communications system will not come without additional costs to fire departments. The companies will have to buy new radios and pagers. Final costs for each department has not yet been determined.