Amateur Repeaters Fall Victim to Washington Wildfire

Two Central Washington repeaters, owned and operated by the Lake Chelan Amateur Radio Club, have been destroyed by one of the wildfires raging in that state. The co-located machines, one on 2 meters and one on 6 meters, were sited on Slide Ridge near Manson, Washington, in Chelan County. On August 27, the First Creek Fire completely leveled the building housing the repeaters. Scorched antennas and support structures are still standing but are likely beyond repair. The club's Roger Odorizzi, W7CH, said the repeaters had been offline for several days.

The site of the destroyed 2 and 6 meter repeaters on Slide Ridge, near Manson, Washington. [Ken Rau, K7YR, photo]

"We knew the fire had wiped out the power going to our site, but we hoped for the best, that our mountaintop building was possibly spared," he said. "Now we have confirmation this was not the outcome." Odorizzi said the area remains closed, and the club likely will not have access to it "for a long time."

The club's Ken Rau, K7YR, said the loss, in addition to the building, included the two repeaters, duplexers and antennas. The repeaters provided coverage in North Central Washington. Rau told ARRL that it's unlikely that the building housing the repeaters would be replaced. It once housed radio and TV broadcast translators, most no longer in use. Topography is also a factor. "This is a mountain site -- 4900 feet above mean sea level -- with power lines that were installed on a very steep slope."

Odorizzi said the club's foresight in tending the area around its 440 MHz FM repeater, located northeast of the city of Chelan, paid off. Although the fire took out power for 3 days, the 70 centimeter repeater site was saved because club members had taken care to clear brush and weeds from a wide perimeter around the building housing the machine.

"Get out there and do some weed abatement. The repeater you save may be your own!" Odorizzi said in a September 1 message. "The two repeaters we lost were on another mountaintop but were surrounded with a brushy area."

Odorizzi said recent rainfall in his area has helped to dissipate the smoke from the wildfires and dampened the flame-charred ground. Much cooler weather also was making life easier for the firefighters. "Locally, fire is not a threat now," he added.

Source:
www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2015-09-03#toc07

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