Hovercraft May Aid Future Size-Up of Hazardous Incidents
ASST. CHIEF ROY FURR
Oxnard, Calif., Fire Department
A tank car carrying toxic chemicals has just derailed and fire fighters must determine what is being spilled and where the leak is. The situation could be a fire fighter’s nightmare.
In the future the task of identifying the chemical and the failure causing the leak will become much less hazardous, since it will not be necessary to directly expose fire fighters for size-up.
A program sponsored by the City of Oxnard, Calif., and the federal Environment Protection Agency may soon enable fire fighters to size up hazardous situations by using a space-age remote control vehicle that will be able to transmit television images as well as sample spilled material.
A half-scale model of the vehicle has been completed and applications for additional funding for the preprototype vehicle are being processed.
Hazardous Spills Likely
Oxnard became involved in the vehicle’s development because, with its miles of railroad tracks, heavy industrial traffic and the presence of industrial users of hazardous chemicals, this city is representative of others around the country where hazardous spills are likely.
During the last decade, the complexity and toxicity of hazardous materials present in our community or being transported through Oxnard has greatly increased the life hazards to our citizens and especially to the members of our safety services. We had long recognized the need for a device that could provide critically needed information at the scene of a hazardous chemical spill without unduly exposing personnel to possible injury or death from the hostile environment.
Unit designed
Following identification of our problem, a review of firms engaged in research and development of reconnaissance revealed that Developmental Sciences, Inc., of the City of Industry, Calif., was most suited to aid in the development of a reconnaissance vehicle. Ken Souter, design engineer at Developmental Sciences, has worked closely with Oxnard Fire Chief H. A. Gustafson in the development of the vehicle.
In a presentation to the Oxnard City Council last March 12, Souter said the company’s research showed that “there is no perfect vehicle” to send into a chemical spill, but that the hovercraft is better suited than any other device.
The craft, Souter noted, will require extremely sophisticated controls. It must be electrically operated because, he explained, “we can’t afford to send an internal combustion engine into what could very well be a propane cloud.”
Hovercraft advantages
The hovercraft device was selected, Souter said, because it has more mobility than a wheeled vehicle—for instance, the craft can float slightly above a pool of liquid—and is less dangerous than a flying vehicle which could crash and compound the spill hazard.
The half-scale model cost $25,000. The research for and development of the model was paid for through a $70,000 EPA grant and an $11,000 City of Oxnard contribution.
Souter said original plans called for the next step to be the construction of a full-size, operative vehicle, but the researchers are now asking that an intermediate phase be added to the process. Souter noted that too much remains to be learned to justify the leap to a fullscale prototype, which would cost about $500,000.
Development Sciences hopes to deliver the first working model to the Oxnard Fire Department. Eventually, Souter said, about 50 of the vehicles would be built and spread across the country so that one could be readily cvailable whenever a chemical spill occurs.
