By Carl J. Haddon

The Recap

So as not to rehash all that is contained in Parts 1 and 2, allow me to simply list some of the gross challenges that we are finding (as rural fire departments) with RVs, EVs, and Escapees:

EVs (Electric Vehicles):

• Electric vehicles are becoming commonplace, and they aren’t just passenger vehicles anymore. UPS, FEDEX, Amazon, buses, trash trucks, and big rigs are also launching electric commercial fleets as we speak.
• Most fire departments are not as educated about the fire and extrication hazards associated with electric vehicles as they need to be to be successful at crashes and fires involving them.
• Most fire departments are not adequately equipped or trained to deal with electric vehicle and lithium ion battery (in thermal runaway) related fires.
• In rural settings especially, most electric passenger vehicles are charged in single-family dwelling garages, which creates many new fire exposure concerns.

RVs (Recreational Vehicles):

• RVs come in varying shapes and sizes. There are 10 times more RVs on the road today than there was in 2019.
• Many are driven or towed by inexperienced drivers. You do not need a commercial driver’s license or special license endorsement to drive or tow an RV. This is resulting in more crashes and fire department responses.
• Unlike most big rigs, RVs aren’t hazmat placarded. We have no idea what’s inside these rigs and what we’re up against when we roll up to a crash involving these vehicles. These vehicles present Class A (run-of-the-mill combustibles), Class B (flowing fuel fires), Class C (electrical fires), and Class D (combustible metal fires) fire challenges.
• Crashes and fires involving RVs can tie up fire personnel and shut down rural highways for hours upon hours.

Escapees:

• With more people being able to work remotely, many of our rural communities are being inundated with new people in numbers like we’ve not seen before. This number of folks is naturally (and sometimes not so naturally) impacting rural infrastructure (e.g., rural fire departments) that may already be stretched for volunteer members.
• Whether vacationers or transplants, escapees aren’t always accustomed to “special rural driving hazards” (agricultural equipment on the highway, Elk, deer, moose, and other big-game animals, “unique” weather conditions, etc.) that we who live and work in these areas often take for granted.
• Tourist escapees provide much-needed and -welcomed cash flow to many of the rural communities that they visit. They come to enjoy some of the same things that we enjoy about living in rural America (outdoor sports, rivers, lakes, hunting, fishing, rafting, camping, etc.). With this enjoyment comes our understanding as rural residents and firefighters that “tourists are tourists,” and if nothing more than because of the sheer increase in their numbers, our call volume is going to increase, and often, our response times are going to increas

A ground-breaking ceremony was recently held in Cuyama (CA) for a new station, reports Keyt.com. The station will house both Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies as well as firefighters.

City and fire officials were on hand to lead the ceremony.

Its predecessor, Station 27, has already been torn down. In the meantime, deputies and firefighters are sharing an old Forest Service facility.

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The San Marcos (TX) Fire Department is holding a ground-breaking ceremony on Friday, June 25 at 10 a.m. for its Station 6, reports smcorridornews.com, which will be located at 5716 S Old Bastrop Highway.

In addition to Station 6, the project also calls for the purchase of new apparatus. The $7 million bond project was approved by voters in 2017; a developer will contribute $2.5 million to the project, with the city’s capital costs totaling $4.5 million.

WestEast Design Group of San Antonio, Texas; Seidel Construction of New Braunfels, Texas; and Jacobs Engineering Group of Dallas, Texas, were selected for the project.

City council recently approved $500,000 for the Belmar (NJ) Volunteer Hook and Ladder Fire Co. to purchase a 2021 Kenworth rescue truck, reports tapinto.net. Once it arrives in December, the apparatus will be housed at the department’s 11th Avenue station.

The apparatus will replace the 36-year-old Ford rescue truck that was deemed unsafe and unfixable during a maintenance inspection last September. Since, crews have been responding to all calls in their six-seat ladder and are currently using a Department of Public Works pickup truck to transport its volunteer firefighters to and fro emergency calls, officials say.

It’s the borough’s second acquisition for the Belmar Fire Department in the past year, as the Goodwill Hose Co. station received a 2018 Seagraves pumper in March.

Officials say they met with at least five apparatus vendors and did their due diligence prior to deciding on the new rescue.