Burbank and Glendale were among six cities awarded the 2006 Helen Putnam award from the League of California Cities for participating in a regional radio system that allows communication across various cities in Los Angeles County. Burbank and Glendale, along with Beverly Hills, Culver City, Montebello and Pomona, in 2003 created the Interagency Communications Interoperability System, which currently has 2,000 radios covering more than one-third of the county. It allows the various cities to speak with each other on a designated system in case of a regional emergency. The joint powers authority that managed the system was headed by Don Wright, a battalion chief with the Glendale Fire Department.