FARMINGTON — The Franklin County Regional Communications Center had nearly all its regular emergency radio coverage restored a little more than a day after the 120-foot tower on Sugarloaf Mountain went down in high winds Monday, director C.L. Folsom said Wednesday.
He said three emergency radio frequencies were affected in the powerful windstorm in Carrabassett Valley: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and NorthStar EMS on Sugarloaf, and County Fire North.
“It affected the Route 27 corridor north of Kingfield to the area north of Eustis,” Folsom said.
“While those were down we had enough coverage from other towers in the area to provide emergency communications to all affected areas,” he said.
At about 3 p.m. Tuesday a tower crew went up and assessed the damage.
“We had two backup antennas that were not affected,” he said.
They were put on a building next to the tower probably about a year ago and were connected to the communication system Tuesday, he said. One antenna from the tower was repurposed and also connected.
As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday the center had 99 percent of the regular coverage in operation, Folsom said.
Sugarloaf ski resort staff estimated the tower was bent in half between 1 and 4 p.m. by winds estimated at more than 100 mph.
The tower is owned by Somerset Telephone Co., which does business as TDS Telecom, according to corporate spokeswoman DeAnne Boegli in Madison, Wisconsin. The tower hosts several cellphone carriers and third-party communication services.
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