Radio Group Helped Sheriff

Your article about the freeway accident and resulting traffic gridlock in Thousand Oaks on Sept. 16 ignored the quick response of the Conejo Valley RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service)--amateur radio operators--to the Sheriff’s Department request for assistance. The cellular phone system was totally tied up so the Sheriff’s Department asked the hams to set up a radio-control network. Within a few minutes, the network was in operation, allowing officers to communicate with each other while managing the frustrating task of rerouting traffic.

Some of these hams did not go back to work at their own jobs that afternoon in order to volunteer to help. They stayed until everything was cleared up and they were no longer needed.

FRANCES PERSHING

Thousand Oaks