NewsCenter1 Today Meteorologist/Multimedia Journalist
Anna Hamelin has loved science and math from a very young age. Anna loves sharing the stories of the Rapid City community. S he spends her days mountain biking and trail running all around western South Dakota and loves being outdoors. Optical Storage Box
BOX ELDER, S.D. - The Box Elder Police Department recently received a unique firefighting tool, donated from the Mount Rushmore Masonic Lodge.
This new piece of equipment is a Fire Suppression Tool from Fire Suppression Solutions, and it's designed to help law enforcement officers when they arrive to the scene of a structure fire. When first responders are called to the scene of a structure fire, they arrive ready to help in any way possible, and law enforcement officers often arrive first.
"Our police officers, they're in their cars, they're ready to go. They receive that dispatch at the same time the fire department, so they're able to immediately head to that call," explained Derek Wingfield, City of Box Elder Public Information Officer. "The fire personnel, they usually have to grab their gear, get in their vehicles, and then disperse. So the first responders that generally make it on scene for a fire are going to be our police officers, and they do everything that they can to help make sure that people are safe, get them out of those structures."
The design of the Fire Suppression Tool allows law enforcement officers to place the device relatively close to the fire source, and then focus on providing other aid. "So upon deploying it, they pull a pin, throw it in, it's got an aerosol that doesn't suppress your oxygen. So it's safe to be around, but it deploys an aerosol that can then suppress a fire and lower the temperature in a building to help stop the movement of the fire until the fire personnel can get there," Wingfield adds.
Ideally, this tool buys time for firefighters to arrive, especially in communities served by volunteer firefighters, who are often responding from home to the station and then to the fire. Law enforcement can focus on evacuations and clearing the area for incoming responders. "This device is a fire suppression grenade if you will," says Wingfield. "It's a similar concept to an AED. It's a preventative measure that can be used right away to allow to control a situation in the middle of the time where you're waiting for those fire personnel that have better tools."
Each of these FST's costs about $1000, and can be deployed once. Wingfield says that the Box Elder Police Department will schedule training and develop a standard protocol for the use of the tool.
NewsCenter1 Today Meteorologist/Multimedia Journalist
Anna Hamelin has loved science and math from a very young age. Anna loves sharing the stories of the Rapid City community. S he spends her days mountain biking and trail running all around western South Dakota and loves being outdoors.
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