Deadlier than flames - statistics from the National Fire Protection Association show your vehicle is more likely to kill a firefighter than a burning home. Vehicle crashes are the second leading cause of death among on-duty firefighters, but a local department is trying to make the race to a call a bit safer.
"We've had people run the red lights and almost hit us. We've had a lot of close calls," said Grand Island Fire Chief Corey Schmidt.
G.I.F.D.’s worst hit? Schmidt said it was when a truck broadsided an ambulance back in 2008, injuring the crew inside and costing the city big bucks.
"We've had quite a few just minor accidents. We're very fortunate that way, but it only takes one to be the one that you can never quite get over so we're hoping that with this we never have that one accident that hurt or killed someone," said Schmidt.
He’s talking about the preemptive traffic signal controllers installed in three fire vehicles.
"[They] make them green for our vehicles and red for the cross traffic and it really makes our job a little bit safer," said Schmidt.
Monday, the department announced that they had received a $9,471 grant from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Schmidt said they’ll use it to buy three more signal controllers, which run around $3,100 a piece.
"It actually reads our vehicle speed, direction we're traveling currently location," he said.
Even though some fire vehicles have this equipment, there's not a traffic signal in the city that can communicate with them. The intersection of Broadwell and Capital Avenues has the technology. It just needs to be programmed.
The Fire and Street Departments have compiled a wish list, with four intersections set to be upgraded by the end of this year:
- Broadwell & Capital Avenues
- Webb Road & Capital Avenue
- Stolley Park Road & Highway 281
- Old Potash Highway & Highway 281
"We don't do a lot of them so it's a little uncertain. They have to go in and install the hardware up above so that it can pick up their GPS," said G.I. Street Superintendent Shannon Callahan.
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Posted: Apr 12, 2016
The next time you come across a house fire and see the fire engines respond, or witness the scene of a traffic accident and watch as injured are loaded into
EEP Inc., for Emergency Equipment Professionals, has become a regional leader for providing vehicles and equipment needed by fire departments and emergency personnel to help save lives.
Jeff Kuntz is president and owner of the company, which along with its Horn Lake headquarters has locations in Richland, Miss. and Pelham, Ala.
“We pride ourselves on what we do and how we do it,” Kuntz said. “Most of us have been involved or are still involved as first responders.”
Case in point, Kuntz pointed out that his Vice President of Equipment Sales, Shawn Witt, is the fire chief of the Love Volunteer Fire Department.
Through its suppliers, such as Pierce for fire trucks or Braun or Demers Ambulances, EEP provides quality equipment to fire departments. If and when service is needed, mobile units can come out and work on the vehicles at their location or the vehicles can come into the service area in Horn Lake to be worked on.
Kuntz is not a rookie to the fire equipment business.
“I’ve been in sales of fire equipment and fire apparatus since 1992,” Kuntz said. “I opened with a partner another company in 2000 in Olive Branch. Business grew to the point where we decided we wanted to do our separate things.”
Kuntz said a division of that company led to his starting EEP, Inc. in May 2011.
Each customer gets the same quality level of service, regardless of size.
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