KD5EOC is the registered call sign for the Denton County Emergency Operations Center which is home to the Denton County Fire Marshall’s Office and Office of Emergency Management. Located at the Northern split of Interstate 35 we are one of the four core counties within the 16 County North Central Texas Region.

The mission of the Denton County Fire Marshal’s Office and Office of Emergency Management is to provide for, supervise, support, and train all Fire and EMS departments within unincorporated Denton County. Further, this office will strive to provide for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Denton County in accordance with Chapter 352 of the Texas Local Government Code, county policy and sound emergency management practices.

The Denton County Fire Marshal’s Office and Office of Emergency Management will strive for professionalism in all areas of performance. We will provide the best possible services at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers of Denton County and the State of Texas. We will apply the law and county policies fairly and consistently throughout the county. We will communicate openly with the public, elected officials, fellow fire departments and law enforcement agencies we serve.

Some tools available for response include the Denton County Mobile Operations Center a.k.a. Goliath, purchased in cooperation with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and Department of Homeland Security Grants. Goliath contains many advanced communication systems capable of being deployed to a disaster stricken area to augment local communications, act as a 9-1-1 dispatch center, or be setup as the central command point under the Incident Command System.

Goliath has many advanced communications systems including: Bi-Directional Satellite Internet System, Satellite Phones, VHF, UHF, Air-VHF, and 800 MHz Trunking and Conventional Radios, Microwave Local Area Network point, and a host of Amateur Radio Systems including: 160M – 6M on a Kenwood TS-570S, 2M & 70CM on a Kenwood D700, D*STAR on the Icom ID-800 and ID-1, packet, D-RATS, and APRS. Goliath is in a constant state of enhancement as we add more equipment to meet the demands placed upon it.

A new addition to the force is the ITS Communications 110 ft. freestanding portable tower, this will be outfitted with an 800 MHz Motorola Trunking Repeater, 2M and 70CM cross band repeaters, 802.11b Wi-Fi, and numerous other systems. Able to be field deployed for self sufficiency or placed into service as a local communications tower. This project is also in the implementation phase.

Also available in the fleet of mobile systems is the Denton County Special Operations Vehicle, outfitted with a long list of equipment and supplies to augment local resources with Explosive Ordinance Disposal, Hazardous Materials Response, Biological and Chemical Response, Fire Fighting, Emergency Medical Services, and Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.) response, and hostage negotiations.

All of the above equipment plus some is securely stored at the Denton County Emergency Operations Center, the KD5EOC station is located inside the back of the room with space for up to four operators, tools at our disposal include a Kenwood D700, an Icom ID-800 for D*STAR Voice and Data, a Motorola Radius and a KPC3+ with Packet, the Kenwood TS-570S for HF, and two terminals for network access as well as a Public Safety radio. Also, on order is several more pieces of equipment to allow enhancement of the EOC communications systems.

If you would like to visit this station come out to a Denton County Amateur Radio Association (DCARA) Club meeting and see what we as a club have to offer. DCARA’s call sign is W5NGU.