Squad 505, Western Albemarle Rescue Squad's new heavy rescue truck, entered service in July after three years of effort to realize its existence. The squad held an open house Oct. 8 to show it off to the public and promote interest in the emergency service.
WARS Chief Kostas Alibertis reported that 20 people had come by. The volunteers had brought their kids, too, to show that volunteering is family-friendly. “Our best recruitment is through the EMT classes, or word-of-mouth from members. We get good PR from them.”
“Our primary mission is emergency transport, but now we’re doing other technical rescues, too,” said Patrick Watson. “Those are different from an EMS call.”
The squad truck, as it’s called by the volunteers, replaces a 1993 GMC that had done its best and was easier to get into the bay. The new truck, 33-feet long and weighing 20 tons, barely clears the 9-foot, 8-inch bay door. Top clearance is two inches. It has an hydraulic four-wheel drive system that allows the truck to ‘kneel’ through the doorway as it backs into the bay.
“It’s a large moving tool box,” said Watson. “It has a 20-year life expectancy. What are the needs of Crozet going to be in 2034?
It has a superior 30-kilowatt generator and it carries 60 gallons of diesel fuel to keep it going a long time. “No other truck in the county can light up anything like this truck can.” All the lights are LEDs, including the headlights. In all, it can produce 900,000 lumens of light. (A light bulb is a couple of hundred lumens.)
“The squad truck is most often used for car accidents, especially if it appears a passenger can’t get out or a car is over a bank. It has lots of lighting to be a safety feature. Putting it at a scene as a barrier defends workers at the wreck site.”
WARS designed the truck’s configuration. It took two years to plan it and another to build it. The Seagrave chassis was built in Clintonville, Wisconsin. The box it carries in the rear was made by SVI Truck in Fort Collins, Colorado. Watson and Alibertis flew to both places twice to consult on construction. “It’s the difference between your architect and your builder,” said Watson.
The truck cost $897,000 in the County’s Capital Improvements Program, plus some extra expenses that bring the cost to $1M. It’s the second most expensive piece of fire/rescue equipment after a ladder truck because it is so specialized. Replacement value is pegged at $1.2M. The powerful truck can actually gain speed climbing Afton Mountain, thanks to its 500 horsepower engine. It’s also geared to handle the mountain.
The two-seat heavy
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Posted: Nov 11, 2016
The Tracy Fire Department is moving to traditional fire truck operation as leaders look to add two tractor-drawn aerials, known as tiller trucks, to the fleet. A 2000 American LaFrance tiller truck with a 100-foot ladder, bought by the Tracy Rural Fire District for $40,000, arrived in late October.
The department also wants to buy a brand new tiller truck to become the department’s first-out response fire truck, replacing 18-year-old Truck 91, housed at Station 91 on 11th Street.
The department will go before the City Council on Dec. 6 to ask for $1.2 million to buy the new tiller truck, a need that Chief Randall Bradley says is coming as the city grows.
“Based upon our size, based on the complexity of our city, we needed a dedicated truck that has the flexibility to get into tight places,” Bradley said.
Truck 91, a 1998 Pierce/Dash 100-foot aerial, is due for replacement, and a committee spent months looking at options before making a recommendation.
“Our straight-frame, non-tiller truck has a pump, water and hose on it, and so it kind of operates as a dual-purpose piece of equipment, as a fire engine and a ladder truck, and what happens is you end up with a not-a-very-good fire engine and a not-a-very-good ladder truck,” Bradley said. “We’re migrating to something where the ladder truck traditionally has very specific roles and responsibilities on the fire ground. Rather than say we are going to use it as a ladder truck some days and a fire engine other days, we’re saying, because we are getting bigger and we now have the calls and the capacity to do so, we’re saying the importance of a ladder truck outweighs the dual purpose of the engine and the truck that’s combined.”
Bradley said the 60-foot-long tiller truck would focus on any type of rescue operations, large vehicle crashes that require extrications, and ventilation, rescue, salvage and overhaul at burning buildings.
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Posted: Nov 11, 2016
Clarksville has grown by 11.6 percent in the past five years -- largely in the Northern corridor. Taking into account the changing census and the requirements of residents around Exit 1, the city inaugurated a new fire and rescue station in the area on Thursday.
The total project cost for construction of Fire Station 11 was $1.8 million. The newly constructed facility includes three bays for a fire truck, a rescue truck and other equipment, a dormitory for four fire fighters required to staff the station, living quarters for one supervisor; an exercise room and a reinforced concrete safe room for firefighters to shelter in during storms.
"We dedicate this new fire station to the people of Clarksville, and we thank them for it," Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan said. "Safety is our No. 1 priority, and this reflects our commitment to provide more public safety protection for this rapidly growing section of Clarksville."
Site preparation began on Fire Station 11 in fall of 2014 and construction began on the building in February 2016, according to a city press release.
“The Exit 1 area, which is growing rapidly with a lot of residential and business development, has been in need of more fire protection,” Fire Rescue Chief Mike Roberts said. “This location also will help with backup for other nearby stations. Clarksville Fire Rescue is pleased to add these resources to serve our city.”
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Posted: Nov 11, 2016
The Merced County Fire Department received a grant to provide ballistic vests and helmets to their first-responders. The county said this comes after changing county guidelines that require first-responders to get victims out of dangerous situations sooner. Officials said violent situations are occurring more often, even in the Central Valley.
They said they've been training with EMS to get into a dangerous scene sooner, and now have the equipment they need to stay safe while putting their lives on the line.
Throughout Merced County, firefighters and EMS will now be provided with bulletproof helmets and vests to use when responding to violent situations. County fire officials said they received $150,000 in federal grants to buy more than 150 ballistic safety sets.
"This is something all of us in fire and EMS certainly did not think that we would face," Cal Fire Batt. Chief Jeremy Rahn said. "Over the years there have been different threats and different hazards thrown to the fire and EMS responders and we've had to adapt to for it."
Merced County Division Chief Mark Lawson said the county got together and decided to draft the guideline on responding to violent incidents. During training sessions, an outside consultant recommended first-responders get more safety equipment. The county approached Cal OES to request the vests and were then given the funds.
The new equipment was presented on Thursday during a press conference. Fire officials brought up examples such as the San Bernardino shooting and more recently, the Azusa shooting. They also brought up the UC Merced attack that happened a little more than a year ago.
"It can be an active shooter because of a terrorist threat," Mark Pazin with Cal OES said. "It could be domestic violence situation."
Ultimately, they say they're preparing for the unknown.
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