Fire department gets mobile command unit
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/08/2019 (2345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Brandon Fire and Emergency Services will be getting a new mobile Incident Command Unit this fall after Brandon City Council approved transferring a tactical van from Brandon Police Service.
The command unit will be used as a location where the incident commander can operate from to manage the emergency response to a large-scale fire or other events.
The downtown fires in May 2018 highlighted the need for BFES to have a formal mobile command post, according to a report to city council.
Currently, the BFES incident commander operates off the tailgate of a half-ton truck, which Brandon fire chief Scott McDonald said takes a toll on the incident commander.
“In our climate, from -30 C in the winter to 30 C in the summer, some days the events we’re at for a significant amount of time and the impact on our incident commander is both physical and mental.”
He said the working out of the former tactical van will give the incident commander a protected, structured environment where they can command the operations from.
The new incident command unit will also be available to any city department, depending on the nature of what they are responding to, although McDonald said that BFES is expected to be its chief user.
In exchange for the vehicle, BFES will transfer $100,000 from the fire equipment reserve to the police vehicle reserve. The normal procedure would be to sell the surplus van, so the money is being used to replenish the shortfall.
Brandon police public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas said the new armoured rescue vehicle BPS is set to receive in the fall will replace the old van. The provincial government announced almost $400,000 in funding for the vehicle in June, which will be used to respond across southwestern Manitoba.
The tactical van is currently used to transport tactical squad officers when responding to an incident or high-risk situations, Sararas said. It is outfitted with benches in the back to seat more officers and more compartments to store police gear, but is not a true tactical vehicle.
The police service originally purchased the van in 2014 for $195,000 and has a residual value of $100,000.
Sararas said the police service doesn’t have an exact date for when it will receive the ARV yet, so the tactical van will remain in the service’s possession until it is replaced.
» dmay@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @DrewMay_