Specialty Trailer Case Studies
Hazardous Materials Team delivers rapid response
A custom-built emergency response vehicle — one of the most technologically advanced units of its kind —produced for the Davenport, Iowa Fire Department (DFD) — is the centerpiece of the Department’s Hazardous Materials (Haz Mat) response team’s ability to rapidly defuse emergency situations. “Every Haz Mat call is unique and potentially dangerous,” says Lt. Ed Grothus of the Davenport Fire Department Haz Mat Division. “We need to have the proper tools on-site to quickly handle these dangerous situations.”
DFD’s “tool box” consists of a truck with a trailer custom-designed and built by Featherlite. The 65-foot truck and trailer unit includes efficiently engineered interior and exterior compartments for storing protective gear, oxygen tanks and neutralizing chemicals. It also features a state-of-the-art command center complete with a reference library of hazardous materials. The center is computerized with wireless satellite uplink capabilities and access to the Internet, providing firefighters with the most up-to-date information on hazardous material security.
“The unit was also built with an observation deck and high-powered observation spotlights on the top,” says Grothus. “This allows our personnel to observe and videotape the situation so we can determine how to proceed.” The video footage can be sent to others via the satellite uplink for instantaneous, expert analysis.
Additionally, the self-supporting unit includes a kitchen facility, which allows members of the Haz Mat Division to remain at the site of a fire, chemical spill, gas leak or any of the thousands of explosive situations 24 hours a day until the emergency has been defused. “When a Davenport area manufacturing/distribution facility caught on fire and posed potential risk to the community, our Haz Mat personnel used the response unit to eat, sleep, hold status meetings and conduct an extensive investigation at the site for a two-week period,” explains Grothus.
“There isn’t much we’d change with the unit,” says Grothus. “The people at Featherlite were easy to work with, expertly working with vendors and designing all of our needs into a great Haz Mat unit.”
As well as receiving the most technologically advanced Haz Mat unit on the market, DFD received a cost-effective unit as well. “We priced a competitive model that was almost twice the cost of the Featherlite unit,” notes Grothus. “Our community received a lot of bang for the buck.”
For more information on how to put a mobile command center to work for your community, call Featherlite Specialty Sales at 800-800-1230.
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