Paris Fire Department day room to get TV upgrade

Photo by Gustavo Bueso Padgett via stock.xchng

Photo by Gustavo Bueso Padgett via stock.xchng

The Paris Fire Department will no longer find itself a victim of the conversion to digital TV broadcast signals.

The Town Board voted 2 to 1 this week to subscribe to Direct TV service for the department’s day room.

Before June, the department had relied on receiving signals through an antenna. Without a digital converter box or a switch to a cable or satellite TV provider such set-ups have been out of luck since June. That’s when broadcasters converted to digital signals, not able to be processed by analog televisions.

A department member said during citizen comments at Tuesday’s board meeting that the TV is used by firefighters and EMTs to fill spare moments between performing fire department duties or during free time like breaks.

Town Chairman Virgil Gentz was in favor of the low tech solution.

“I guess I’m in favor of regular TV and a (converter) box,” Gentz said. Though he admitted that he has Direct TV for his household, Gentz said he knows people who have opted for converter boxes and “it’s a really clear picture they have.”

Supevisor Ron Kammerzelt favored the upgrade, however.

“I think it’s 2009,” Kammerzelt said. “We can afford that.”

Fire Chief Roland Iwen estimated the service to cost about $29 per month.

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