CHARLESTON -- Firefighters will be making house calls to help residents of Pinch, St. Albans, and Tornado hook up converter boxes and adjust their set-top antennas in preparation for the June 12 switch to digital television.

As part of the Federal Communications Commission’s comprehensive nationwide DTV transition assistance effort, the FCC and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), through its Digital TV Transition Assistance Project, have entered into an agreement that will enable fire fighters to visit homes where individuals need help to connect their digital converter boxes and adjust their set-top antennas.

The DTV transition is of special importance to the fire and emergency service community because the switch to digital television service will free up airwaves that can be used to expand the national public safety communication network.

Consumers should call the FCC’s national toll-free help line, 1-888-CALL-FCC, if they need help preparing for the DTV transition.

On June 12, all full-power television stations in the United States will stop analog broadcast service and transmit only digital signals. Consumers who do not subscribe to pay television services and have older, analog televisions will need to attach digital-to-analog converter boxes to their televisions in order to continue receiving over-the-air television programming. They may also need to adjust or upgrade their television set-top antennas.

WOWK-TV, WSAZ-TV have already received emergency permission to broadcast in digital only in the Huntington-Charleston area. WCHS-TV is broadcasting currently in Digital and Analog, but will cease transmission of its analog signal on June 12.