County Communications; Radio Frequencies and Telephone NumbersListen to County Fire Radio Traffic Firescan.net allows visitors to listen to radio traffic for a number of Bay Area fire departments, including County Fire primary. Radio traffic is archived, so calls going back a month or so can be listened to. Or, you can listen to an event that just occurred. RadioReference.com provides a live feed of County Fire radio traffic (primary and command channels), mixed with San Jose Fire and CalFire. Streaming Audio of radio traffic for an event This is a recording of a two-alarm structure response, in Campbell's area on 12 Nov 1997, at 2246 hours (10:46pm.) The event was a fire at Mr. Chau's Restaurant, 2200 S. Bascom Avenue, Campbell. Note that the recording has been edited to remove "dead air" from between transmissions. It includes the initial dispatch on County Fire primary, and the fireground communications on Command 1. Click on the icon or sample name below to stream the sound file. A high-speed internet connection is recommended. If you are using a modem, pause the playback until the entire file has downloaded to prevent buffering pauses. Your computer must either be capable of playing MP3 audio files, or you may download the file, save it to your local disk, and transfer it to an MP3-capable audio device.
Sound Bites
photographer unknown
Now and Then: photos of County Communications "County Comm". The historic photo of County Comm, probably circa late '60's, shows the pre-computer flip-card files and an early status display board in the background. Since then, the dress code has relaxed, and the furniture has become more ergonomic. Additional historical photos can be found on the County Comm historic page.
The County Communications building is situated on a hilltop in a restricted access area, on stable bedrock, and is seismically reenforced, to help it survive a major earthquake or other disaster. Built in 1959 and designed to withstand an atomic attack, it ironically has one of the best views in the area, yet has no windows.  County Communications antenna farm. These multiple antenna poles were replaced with a single 300' (100M) steel antenna. 
County Communications has three Mobile Command Vans, which can be used as alternative communications centers if problems occur at the Communications Center building, or as Incident Command vehicles at large incidents. The newest, and largest van is an ex-Department of Corrections bus; note the bank of antennae running along the side, above the roll-out awning. The interior photo shows the work stations and meeting room/command center at the back of the largest van. 
Santa Clara County Fire Dept Archive
Interior of one of the Mobile Command Vans. Photo date unknown, probably 1960's.
Telephone NumbersEmergency: Dial 911For more information about calling 911, from cellphones, landlines and VoIP, see the 9-1-1 Information page. Santa Clara County Communications Department telephone numbers. This site contains routine and emergency contact telephone numbers for all of the County and associated cities' public safety organizations.
Hand SignalsStandardized hand signals used by the department for non-verbal communication.
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2alarm.mp3 
