Emergency vehicles can also stuggle in winter weather
Battalion Chief Gary Warren, with the Columbia Fire Department, told ABC 17 News that regardless of weather conditions they still get out of the door within 60 seconds of a call and plan to be there within 5 minutes.
“The bad weather conditions are really no different for us than normal motors. We still have to take things into consideration,” said Warren.
Besides braking early and driving slower, fire trucks are equipped with more safety features than normal cars.
The trucks can handle snow up to 8 inches, they use chains on their tires in ice, and the trucks weigh more than 40,000 lbs.
“Something else that makes the trucks a lot safer are the hearing protection inside the trucks,” said Warren.
These hearing devices allow all emergency responders to communicate quickly and effectively. Warren told ABC 17 News the trucks that do have more problems in the winter weather are ambulances.
“They don’t typically have the insta-chain function that provides better traction, and they don’t weigh as much,” said Warren.
Despite all of the safety features Columbia resident, Tommy Whitesides says he would feel better if his road were cleared more often.
He told ABC 17 News there are 5 heart patients on his block.
“It should be a priority but some people do stuff different than me,” said Whitesides.
Whitesides told ABC 17 News that there has been a time where emergency responders walked to his house when roads were too bad.
Firefighter told ABC 17 News that they will make it to all the calls they get, even if it means they have to park on a priority route and walk to the house if the weather is too bad.
