Someone has been intermittently jamming radio transmissions of fire and rescue departments in southern Maine for the past few months, but on Sunday, Jason Cole said, the problem escalated sharply.

Cole, the assistant chief of Lebanon’s rescue department, said he went on a medical call shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday. When he arrived at the house, it was clear the person was in worse shape that he had thought, so he got on the radio to call for another ambulance with advanced life support equipment and more emergency medical technicians.

“Every time I’d key the mic, they’d cover us,” Cole said. Someone else was using a microphone on the same frequency, blocking Cole’s transmissions.

Cole had to leave the house and walk to the end of the driveway where he could get cellphone reception and call for help.

“They’re getting more dangerous,” Cole said, noting that the patient is still in the hospital. “This is far more serious than the prank that this person apparently thinks it is.”

Federal law treats jamming public safety communications as more than a prank.

Jamming those transmissions — as well as buying, selling or operating a jamming device — violates federal law and can lead to fines up to $112,500 per act and prison, according to the Federal Communications Commission, which polices the airwaves.

The FCC has a zero tolerance policy in this area, said Michele Ellison, chief of the agency’s enforcement bureau.

Cole said an FCC official told him that if someone dies when someone is intentionally jamming the department’s radios, it could lead to manslaughter charges.

Cole said the problem is affecting the town’s fire and rescue crews, as well as crews in North Berwick, Acton, Shapleigh and Limerick.

“It’s definitely deliberate,” he said. “It’s not a game. One of these days, it’s going to cost someone’s life.”

Cole said he expects the FCC to act quickly in the case, noting that mobile monitoring devices can be deployed more quickly now than in 2004 and satellite technology can also play a role in locating the jammer.

He said he’s most concerned about people who need medical help, like the man he assisted on Sunday, and firefighters who sometimes have to use their radios to communicate from inside burning buildings.

“The radio, that’s their lifeline,” he said.

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