Friday fragments - comms news from around the web for 28 March 2014

A round-up of the week's critical communications and public safety radio news for Friday, 28 March 2014.

Save our tower. As we reported some weeks ago, Moscow's iconic Shukhov Radio Tower - sometimes called the Russian equivalent of the Eiffel Tower - is in danger of being pulled down. Now, an international group of influential architects is campaigning to have it added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The beautiful 160-metre-tall spiral tower was completed in 1922 and is said to have inspired many architects and designers. Russia's Ministry of Communication has said the tower might be dismantled and re-erected at another location.

Stop stealing our towers 1. Thieves have broken into an emergency communications tower site in Ohio and stolen equipment and metal. The tower, which hosts comms equipment for police, fire and ambulance services, is currently out of action. The thieves stole copper wire, steel brackets, bolts, nuts and clamps, and batteries. Police are keeping an eye on local metal recycling yards.

Stop stealing our towers 2. Not to be outdone, another thief - this time in Amherst County, Virginia - has stolen wire and cabling from a radio tower. Police have a description of a suspect, and a reward of up to US$1000 is being offered.

Tower takes a fall. What is it with radio towers in the US? Did someone steal the bolts that held this one up? Whatever the cause, a police comms tower in Lexington, Kentucky, decided to let gravity take over and promptly fell on several police cars. Fortunately, no-one was hurt.

Time to turn the page. A paging system used by fire and emergency medical units in York County, Pennsylvania, failed to work properly during a call-out to a building fire, with the result that some fire units were not informed and didn't attend the fire. David Nichols, West Manchester Township fire chief, was quoted on ydr.com as saying "We had no clue there was a fire … the system continues to let us down."