In May, the Austin (TX) Fire Department (AFD) took delivery of one of its most recent apparatus purchases, and the only one of its kind for the department: a truck-mounted large-scale mobile ventilation unit coined the “Smoke Buster.” Austin’s acquisition of the ventilator was the final result of nearly 18 months of testing and research.
The AFD began the initial purchasing process in 2014 when it solicited the help of some local university engineering students. They ran a number of ventilation tests and simulations within large structures. Simultaneously, the department used the opportunity to evaluate a number of mobile ventilation products from some of the top manufacturers in the world. The conclusions of the study were clear: particular incident types require large-scale ventilation beyond what traditional positive-pressure ventilation (PPV) and positive-pressure attack (PPA) fans are capable of. Austin needed access to such a solution.
The AFD’s Smoke Buster uses a Tempest MVU®-L125 mounted in the bed of a Dodge Ram® heavy-duty diesel pick-up truck. The final custom fabrication and installation of the apparatus was delivered by Skeeter Brush Trucks out of Hillsboro, Texas. The Smoke Buster was showcased in Tempest Technology Corporation’s booth at FDIC International 2016 in Indianapolis. Tempest has more than 200 similar ventilators in operation around the world.
For more information, visit www.tempest.us.com.
