REFURBISHED VAN BECOMES SUPPORT VEHICLE
INNOVATIONS: HOMEGROWN
Our department bought an Isuzu step van that had been badly damaged during a tornado while in a dealership lot. The front top of the van from the windshield up was twisted and bent toward the passenger’s side, the driver’s door was caved in, all of the windows were broken, and there were holes in the sides and the roof of the van. Our department had been thinking of building some type of support vehicle, so we decided to purchase the wrecked van and repair it.
Our firefighters performed the bodywork and necessary repairs to make the van roadworthy. We ordered the needed parts that we could not supply. Two four-by-eight-foot panels on the driver’s side and one and a half panels on the passenger side were replaced, as was the front top portion of the van above the wind-shield. The hole toward the front of the van’s roof was enlarged to accept an air-conditioner, and a hole was cut at the rear of the roof for another. More than 150 hours of labor went into repairing the van, and many more were spent planning what type of equipment we would carry and where it would be located. Once we finished the bodywork and planning, we contacted several companies about performing the interior work on the van.
RETROFIT
We devised an interior plan with storage, seating capacity, function, and a command center in mind. We had a number of companies bid on the project and awarded the contract to a company that specialized in building vehicles for the handicapped.
In the front of the van. situated behind the driver’s seat, is a command post area separated from the rear by a wall with a sliding door. We ordered an additional seat from the van manufacturer (to match the original cab seats) for the command post. The command console has two VHF radios, one UHF radio, one CB radio, and a cellular phone. Also located at the command post are assorted office materials, a camera, reference books, and a county map mounted on the wall with overlaid plexiglass for writing on with dry markers.
On each side of the rear of the vehicle are bench seats for four personnel, full-length cabinets, and storage space under and above the bench seats. The van’s walls and ceiling are fully insulated. The cabinets are finished in formica for easy cleaning, and the ceiling and bench seats are covered w ith vinyl. The extreme rear of the van was left open for larger equipment such as an oxygen “M” cylinder, a 1,400-watt portable generator and light cart, a folding table, and drink coolers. A 6,500-watt Onan generator with a 10-gallon fuel tank is mounted under the floor on the driver’s side. The van has the option of running off either the generator or shore power.
Some of the other equipment the vehicle carries includes a 19-foot aw’ning, scene lighting on both sides and rear, a hookup for telephone landline, four sets of coveralls, a cord reel, and extra firefighting gloves.
Dubbed “Eye of the Storm,” due to the unusual circumstances surrounding our acquisition of the vehicle, our support vehicle carries our equipment, the county’s disaster supplies, and as many as seven EMTs when responding to emergencies. It has proved its worth many times over.
