Mobile Communication Vehicle

The St. Croix County Emergency Support Services Department is responsible for countywide emergency public-safety communications and emergency management services. These services are provided both at a fixed location in Hudson, as well as through the use of a mobile public-safety communications/command vehicle. In 2021, St. Croix County placed in service the most recent vehicle (known internally as “MC1”) equipped with multiple radios, internet and VOIP telephone systems. Over the years, this Mobile Command Vehicle has been utilized many times for on-scene communications and command in and out of the county in support of Law Enforcement, Fire, and Emergency Medical Service missions. Most notably, MC1 was requested by the State of Wisconsin Office of Emergency Management to help with communications during the Native American spear fishing seasons in northern Wisconsin in the late 1980s. It was also utilized in Somerset in 1986 for a massive waste tire fire involving over a million tires that burned for weeks. The communications vehicle was on site and operational for days as federal, state and local agencies worked to contain and extinguish the fire.

Newest Vehicle Benefits

In 2021, a 38-foot Farber Specialty Vehicle was purchased by the county to replace the then 20-year-old Winnebago Communications van. This new vehicle (also designated as “MC1”) was designed for on-scene communications and support. MC1 allowed county officials to bring communications to the scene in a mobile vehicle that has capabilities of over 2,500 radio frequencies, VOIP telephone systems, internet Wi-Fi, writing surfaces, bathroom facilities, kitchen facilities, and fresh water, as well as a secure and climate-controlled environment for public-safety command staff to plan, coordinate and mitigate the ongoing incident.

Community Events

In the past, various music concerts occurred in Somerset where the attendees to these events have numbered at times up to 30,000 people. The communications vehicle responded to these concerts and various other incidents with law enforcement to render assistance with communications and/or support. MC1 was utilized in 2005, in Hammond after a tornado struck the Village. In 2007, MC1 was operational after a windstorm struck the City of New Richmond and surrounding areas causing considerable damage. In 2009, MC1 was operational for a North Hudson warehouse fire, where approximately 50 different fire departments along with various other agencies from both Wisconsin and Minnesota responded to this multi-hour fire. In 2014, MC1 responded to a multi-alarm fire at a Glenwood City nursing home that involved numerous regional fire departments to remove patients and extinguish the blaze. Throughout the years MC1 has been activated to take the burden off of the 911 center communications and allow those in Command/Control of larger incidents to work together in a controlled environment. To this day, MC1 plays a vital support role to law enforcement during incidents when the Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Unit (ERU) is called out and for numerous other agencies involved in major fires, searches, and other public-safety incidents.