Recently the Eden Prairie Fire Department completed the final paperwork to “purchase” a Crash Rescue Truck from MAC Fire for $1.00. This is a good arrangement for all concerned.
The EPFD gets a truck that is specifically designed to operate in an airport environment. In other words, it has plenty of the specialized foam products needed to put out a large amount of extinguishing agent in the event of a plane crash. Additionally the truck can be pumping out the foam product as it is moving, thus reducing the time it takes to get extinguishment products onto a crash site.
MAC Fire gets better coverage at the Flying Cloud Airport by giving us a vehicle that can perform the needed tasks, this reduces the amount of times they would have to come over to Flying Cloud Airport to provide coverage for a potential in flight emergency.
The pilots that use the airport now have a much safer place to make an emergency landing. The final key to the success of this new equipment is getting the word out to call the fire department at the first sign of trouble, thus enabling a timely response. This critical timing link is not unique to the airport, all fire services need rapid notification in order to be the most effective.
Pictured to the left are 8 Eden Prairie firefighters that received “train the trainer” training from the highly capable MAC Fire Department staff. From left to right: Lieutenant Jess Irmiter, Firefighter Shaun White, Assistant Chief Rick Hammerschmidt, Lieutenant Ward Parker, Captain Mark Vandenberghe, Assistant Chief Scott Taylor, Assistant Chief Steve Koering and Fire Inspector Chuck Schaitberger) We expect this latest addition to our fleet to be ready to respond by the end of September.
Original post by George Esbensen and software by Elliott Back
