MULTIPURPOSE UTILITY VEHICLE
Our department has developed a unique “fire engine” that serves as a fire, rescue, and haze-mat vehicle. A Kawasaki Mule 2010 four-wheel drive utility vehicle, donated to our departmeant, has been modified by our members so that it can carry 42 gallons of water. Its water delivery system is also an air-pressure system; the air cylinder delivers high-pressure breathing air to a 50-psi regulator. Low-pressure air is used to pressurize the 75-psi water tank and therefore force out the water. The air supply also could be used to power air-driven emergency extrication tools.
The vehicle also has been adapted for rescue work, allowing us to place a stokes basket and two rescuers in the rear and to reach victims in areas such as beaches, woods, or other places with terrains that make access difficult, if not impossible, with conventional apparatus.
Ihe cart also is helpful for bringing two members to the edge of the hot zone in haz-mat incidents, saving them from a walk of up to one mile in lull gear.
A totally self-contained unit, the utility vehicle can be removed from the engine when not needed
Photo by author.
