Stabilize, lift, and pull the vehicle out!

Take a look at the training that Beaver Lane Fire Rescue held earlier in the summer. Under-ride accidents do not always happen with the trailer of a semi.  More pictures are being posted online of accidents where the tractor or front end of a large truck is on top of a passenger vehicle with someone trapped inside.

Broadcast Truck

The roads are no stranger to unique vehicles. One unique vehicle is a broadcast or news truck.  As firefighters, we have a keen sense to notice a news truck on scene of an incident. Usually it is setup a colleague to get recorded and put on the local news so they must buy lunch or dinner. However, news trucks have a substantial amount of weight added in unusual locations.

I wanted to learn a little more about the weight of these vehicles that are out on the road so I contacted Rolltechs Specialty Vehicles and received some information  from Tony Beigel.  Rolltechs Specialty Vehicles starts with a factory vehicle like a Mercedes Sprinter or a Ford Transit.  Equipment like Flooring, mast, on-board generator, cabinets/work stations, air conditioners, and the AV equipment.  Once the company up-fits the vehicles the final weight is close to the GVWR ratings.  A good estimate of the added weight is 3000 lbs. Keep in mind that this includes:  Flooring, some sort of mast, an on-board generator, cabinets/work stations, Air Conditioners, and then the AV equipment.  So a good idea of that weight would be around 3000 lbs. The Gens themselves are around 800 lbs. I am excluding any passengers.

Below are pictures from the Crunch Time Extrication Learning Symposium several years ago.  One of the vehicles available for training was an old Econoline news van.  Even with much of the equipment removed, the reinforcements left added weight in the rear of the van the affected the center of gravity.