When hundreds of firefighters responded to a blaze last month at a suburban Johnstown business, Cambria County’s new emergency-communications system passed the test with flying colors.

So even as officials continue to tweak that system, they now are turning their attention to the possibilities afforded by last year’s radio upgrade – including high-speed Internet access for residents and businesses and high-tech data transmission that could make emergency responders safer and more effective.

When it comes to the capabilities of a system dubbed “Cambria Connected,” officials say they have barely scratched the surface.

“We’ve built the first network like this in the country,” said Brian Feist, Cambria County emergency services director.

Feist said the county had no choice but to switch the antiquated radios previously used by police, firefighters and medics to a higher-frequency system.

But the transition was not painless, and it made headlines in September when fire officials complained that communication flaws compromised responders’ safety during a church fire in Coupon.

Feist acknowledges that there have been “glitches” that officials have worked to rectify.

That process is ongoing; Feist said officials are installing equipment on a Clearfield County tower to improve radio service in northeastern Cambria County.

He added that some complications were due to the fact that emergency responders were unfamiliar with the new radios.

The communications system earned a rave review in January from Oakland Volunteer Fire Company, which led a massive response to a fire at Carmen’s Wholesale Tires on Bedford Street. Volunteers from more than 20 companies in two counties worked at the scene.

“With a large-scale operation like we had, communications were flawless with your department,” Oakland Chief Tom Callihan wrote in an e-mail to the county.

The radio switch generated plenty of work and came with a multimillion-dollar price tag.

But county leaders and a Maryland company called Conxx did not stop there, creating a network that is designed to spread wireless-data access around the county.

The possibilities for residents, businesses and emergency personnel are varied and numerous – and all of them employ the same towers and equipment put in place for the emergency-communications system, officials said.

“Everyone sees something different in this,” said Matt Sernell, a Conxx technical engineer.

That includes high-speed, wireless Web access in relatively remote areas through several Internet-service providers.

“There are several hundred customers already,” Sernell said.

One of them is Mike Kemock, whose Colver home now sports equipment that has created a wireless Internet “hot spot” in a community that previously did not have such service.

“Everyone stops me and asks, what is that on your house?” Kemock said with a laugh. “I tell everybody it’s a spy satellite.”

An average residential customer would not need the type of equipment installed at Kemock’s abode.

But in exchange for hosting that device – which spreads the Wi-Fi signal throughout the neighborhood – Kemock gets free wireless Internet that he says is an upgrade from cable-Internet service.

“It’s fantastic,” Kemock said, adding that Cambria’s system provides Colver customers with a choice for high-speed Internet service.

“Before, there was only one option – cable,” Kemock said.

Officials plan to soon mount a marketing campaign to promote enhanced Internet services – and possibly decreased costs – for businesses as well.

“That, in turn, becomes the economic-development tool,” Sernell said.

High-speed data also may become an important tool for anyone responding to an emergency.

While all departments are using the new UHF radios, Cambria Connected offers other opportunities through 900-megahertz mobile data transmission. It’s the kind of system that can send information about a hazardous material directly to a laptop in the fire truck or allow a police officer to remotely monitor a security camera at a school.

And it all will happen wirelessly via specialized radios that emergency organizations will have to purchase. That cost can be high, but Feist is trying ease the financial pain by purchasing hundreds of radios from Fresno, Calif., at a reduced price.

“Once we get them, I think they’ll go relatively quickly,” Feist said.

At Richland Township Fire Department, Battalion Chief Paul Ellsworth can see the possibilities.

The department already has laptops in all command vehicles, and the computers hold geographic-information-system mapping of water and sewer lines.

Firefighters also are inputting interior plans for buildings in the township.

But those laptops cannot yet connect to the Internet, a service that Ellsworth said could be invaluable, for instance, when firefighters are heading to a hazardous-material incident.

“We’re hoping the system will expand a lot more,” Ellsworth said.