Got to love the Technical/Tactical rescue rigs

Nice article on new rescue rig for the The Kingman Fire Department

This article is reprinted from: kingmandailyminer.com

KINGMAN - The Kingman Fire Department has added a new $198,000 rescue truck to its life-saving fleet this month.

The truck, the first of its kind in the area, was designed and built from the ground up to provide a single vehicle that would hold all the department's more than $33,000 in specific rescue equipment.

"The concept isn't unique to the fire industry," Kingman Fire Battalion Chief Patrick Moore said. "Kingman just got to the size for it."

The funds for the truck were budgeted by the KFD. It took a year to design and build the vehicle.

"It was kind of interesting doing the design because we've never done anything like this before," Kingman Fire Capt. Roger Dixon said. "We pretty much went into the process wide open."

The fire department now has five fire engines, one ladder truck, two brush engines, one hazardous materials engine, one water tender, one utility vehicle and the rescue truck. The department is planning to add another standard response fire engine next year around December with budgeted funds.

In 1997, the KFD started a technical rescue program.

It was responsible for rope, swift water, confined spaces, trench and building rescues, as well as vehicle extraction.

With the launch of the program, the department started budgeting and obtaining the equipment and training necessary to accomplish technical rescues. The equipment was spread out at each station.

The fire department had a standard-size truck with some equipment before. The new truck lacks a hose, pump and water tank, which allows it to have larger compartments to carry equipment such as basket stretchers that are too large to fit on a regular fire engine.

"It gives us just so many more abilities to have positive outcomes," Moore said. "We're definitely excited to have it."

The truck has a five-person cab with each seat having a breathable air tank hook up. It also has its own air supply on board, which can be used to refill firefighters' air tanks.

The KFD has placed extraction equipment, commonly known as the Jaws of Life, on every truck and the new rescue truck has the Jaws of Life - only bigger. The electric power equipment on the truck can be turned on by a flip of a switch, as opposed to the gas-powered equipment on the other trucks that have to be cranked to start.

The truck also has a 25-kilowatt built-in generators, with is at least five times larger than the generators on the standard fire trucks. Floodlights, outlets and cord reels insure the KFD will be prepared to respond to calls in pitch-black locations.

Dixon is currently a part of the technical rescue program and explained they receive less calls than normal fire trucks.

"It's not like there's a high volume," Dixon said. "But, it's usually of significant impact."

Dixon estimates the truck will conservatively get 20 years of use due to the lack of frequent calls.

Right now the truck located at Station No. 3 is not staffed due to the low volume of calls. When a special call comes in for the rescue, a driver from the station will take it out to the scene while a trained cross staff of off-duty firefighters will be called in to meet the truck at the scene.


Tags: "Kingman Fire Department", "rescue truck", "technical rescue program", rope, "swift water", "confined spaces", trench, "building rescues", "vehicle extraction"