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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