By Jonathan Miller
The Colony Fire Department upgraded its Battalion Chief Incident Command vehicle recently to one that now includes more workstations and celebrated the switch over with a push-in ceremony.
Here’s a video of the department’s push-in ceremony, held Oct. 2 at Firehouse No. 1.
The new battalion is a 2023 Ford F550 with long wheelbase and a storage box called the Command Access Vehicle customized for the fire service. The new vehicle replaces a Chevrolet Suburban, which served as the first battalion unit when the department created the battalion chief position in 2010.
“This new vehicle was custom designed for our needs,” Chief Scott Thompson said. “It has more space and a much better layout for command and control of emergency operations. The old vehicle will be placed in reserve status for the battalion chief to use when the new one is having service performed. This new vehicle has 63 cubic feet more usable space versus a standard pickup bed. It is also equipped with the latest technology and a tethered drone that will feed real time intel to the incident commander.”
The new battalion vehicle, assigned to the on-duty shift commander, will be housed at Fire Headquarters and Engine Company 11. The new rig has three work stations, storage for personal protective equipment (PPE), self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) for two, and hand tools.
PPE, SCBA, extinguishers, and hand tools are stored on the driver side at the front of the Command Access section. To the rear of the driver side is a workstation for SCBA tracking and accountability. The rear of the unit is for the IC and houses a command board and monitor. On the passenger side, the front of the box contains a LUCAS® chest compression system, CYANOKIT®, a portable command board, and a tethered drone with video feed. The rear section of the Command Access section on the passenger side is an additional command position.
“This vehicle is designed for command and control of emergency operations,” Thompson said. “It’s an extremely important vehicle for our system. We have many very large buildings that will quickly drain our resources. A strong, visible, and functional command vehicle will assure we provide the best chance for success in the early stages of our operations.”
The Command Access was built by Stonewell Bodies in Genoa, New York.
“The swing-out is somewhat unique,” Thompson said. “Because our incident commanders operate on the exterior of the vehicle, we wanted plenty of space for maps and notes.”
According to Thompson, the Command Access is in a “different class than the Tahoe, Suburban, or even a pickup for that matter. Not only does the Command Access body offer more space, the access to the entire space is much better. Additionally, the swing-up doors on the body provide shade and protection from rain. The three battalion chiefs spent many hours designing this command-friendly work space.”
Thompson continued, “So the added space and layout of the space are really the main things. The work stations are added technology and new to this vehicle.”
JONATHAN MILLER, web editor of FireApparatus.com, has been a journalist for 30 years working for newspapers, both in print and online, and was the director of digital media at a business magazine.
