HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT A communications tower at Highway 160 and Wheeler Pass Road collapsed because of high winds Friday, disrupting service to several agencies. Back-up methods to communicate were quickly put into force. Advertisement

The Nye County Sheriff's Office, the fire department, and even the school bus system were left without communications early Friday, after the wind huffed and puffed and blew down the emergency services tower in Pahrump.

According to Fred Jones, of Nye County Emergency Services, the support structure for the radio tower collapsed at 6 a.m. Friday, when the wind compromised one of the tower's guide wires.

The tower, located on Highway 160 and Wheeler Pass Road, crashed to the ground and into the fence surrounding the area.

Although 9-1-1 communications were never lost, the sheriff's office and fire departments were both forced to go on a car-to-car patch system, based on radio direct frequencies, to communicate.

With a little help from George Johnson, county radio technician, communication for the fire department was established by 11 a.m. and the sheriff's office was back up by 5 p.m.

Although still on a temporary patch system, the fire department is communicating using the repeater system located on the south side of town and the sheriff's office is using the north side repeater system.

The school district has gone to its back-up communication system located at the bus depot on Woodchips Road.

Pahrump Amateur Radio Emergency Services (A.R.E.S.) assisted with equipment removal, and Motorola technicians from Las Vegas also helped with getting things running.

Jones said several meetings are expected to be held by emergency services personnel to find a solution to the problem.