CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT Jerry Fuge, the emergency coordinator for southern Nye County, spent 22 years in the Navy in communications, running several Mobile Army Radio Stations (M.A.R.S.) before retiring as a chief petty officer. Advertisement

About two years ago, the entire valley lost telephone service when a backhoe doing work at Indian Springs cut a fiber optic cable.

Fortunately for the residents of Nye County, A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. was on hand to alert the emergency manager in Las Vegas of the situation.

Or, to decipher the acronym, the Amateur Radio Emergency Services and Radio Amateur Communication Emergency Service organization went to work.

A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. is a volunteer organization of licensed ham radio operators. It is an independent, volunteer organization and the operators provide their own equipment.

"We support communications when all other communications fail," explained Gerald "Jerry" Fuge, the emergency coordinator for southern Nye County. "That's our primary purpose in emergencies."

So when the valley lost telephone service, the "hams" (as they call themselves) went to work.

"We, through our repeaters, were able to contact the emergency manager," Fuge said. "We told him that we had no telephone services in the valley, and if he needed to communicate, do it via the ham radio operators. So we provided a link to him back to here, if something were to happen, and he would know what was going on in the valley."

A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. are actually two groups under one umbrella, prepared to handle different levels of emergency situations.

A.R.E.S. handles "primarily local, town-related events," whereas R.A.C.E.S. is the group that gets involved "when the feds step in," Fuge said.

"We are both here. However, in some areas they are separate," Fuge explained. "We find it a lot easier to be just one organization, and if it escalates all we have to do is turn the hat around and then we're the other."

In the case of emergencies with federal involvement, amateur radio operators without the proper licensing are required to physically leave the area.

But the hams aren't just active during emergency situations. They provide a number of services to the community throughout the year.

The organization also handles communication for the entire Baker-to-Vegas race each April.

The relay race, during which law enforcement officials run from Bakersfield to Las Vegas, has about 20 stations that need to be monitored, in addition to general supervision.

One year, when the race was running ahead of schedule, A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. helped to temporarily stop it, keep track of runners' times and get it back on schedule.

The hams also act as a vital back-up communication system for medical personnel during the race.

"Another instance, we had a runner go down (and) we had to call an ambulance," Fuge said. "The medics have their own communication system, and it doesn't (always) work."

They also provide communication for the Fall Festival each year, roving around in golf carts and at primary intersections, monitoring the parade and other events.

The organization can also act as additional lookouts for law enforcement or other emergency personnel.

For example, when a rash of fires broke out in a short time across the valley, the fire department requested the assistance of A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. They went to reported fires and determined whether a call was a hoax or if there was an actual fire.

In a training exercise, the group was told by the Nye County Sheriff's Office to track a vehicle that had been involved in an accident. The only information they were given was that it was a red pick-up truck with a barrel of hazardous material in the bed and the last three digits of the license plate.

"Well, we deployed to the different areas of town, I came up to where the emergency operation trailer was set up, lit off the radios and starting contacting my people," Fuge said.

As a result of the reports that came back to him, the group gathered the full color of the vehicle, the entire license plate number and the vehicle's constant location.

"We tracked this thing all over Pahrump," Fuge said. "The guy was told just to drive and see how many places he could be spotted. Well, once we spotted him, we never lost him."

More recently, A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. also helped with the mosquito abatement program by reporting possible breeding sites back to the Office of Emergency Management.

"This gives them a database, that if West Nile does get into the valley, they know who's got horses .. .where the water could maybe stand ... a working knowledge," Fuge said.

Although Fuge said that hams were often treated "treated as second-class citizens," the importance of amateur radio operators, especially in the event of an emergency, has been brought in to sharp relief by Hurricane Katrina.

"We as a ham organization learned a lot, as did others, from Katrina, because it was the first time where people just showed up and said, 'Hi, I'm a ham radio operator, can you use me?'" Fuge explained. "And they had no idea of emergency communications or what their equipment would do ... it was a learning experience for everyone involved, not just the hams."

As a result of Hurricane Katrina, however, the attitude toward ham communication has changed considerably.

"Up until after Katrina, whenever the hams would show up, they'd bring their own equipment and put it in emergency operation centers," Fuge explained. "Well now, because of the eye-opening (about) communications that we could provide, a lot of the operation centers now have equipment permanently installed."

A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. has permanent equipment installed in its current emergency services trailer, and will have its own center for operations when the new emergency operation center opens next March.

A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. meets once a month and has a weekly radio call. According to Fuge, if you want to join, all you have to do is "stick your head up and say, 'Hey, I want to join.' All you have to be is a licensed ham radio operator."

OK, and you also have to fill out an application.

On Dec. 30, the organization will host its first Ham Cram class. Study material will be provided, and at 2 p.m. attendees will be tested to receive their technician-class license.

Additional volunteers for A.R.E.S. are always welcome.

"We welcome any licensed ham radio operator that would like to serve," Fuge said. "And that's all we ask: that they have equipment and the desire to serve the citizens of Nye County."