ARLINGTON COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT Arlington County, VA
After the 9-11 Pentagon crash, the Arlington County
Fire Department began laying plans for enhancing their
response capabilities to weapons of mass destruction
type incidents. Assistant Chief John White and Captain
Doug Insley with the Technical Services Division met
with Hackney to begin design of two tractor/trailers
that would be capable of moving the required equipment
cache required for this and other type of incidents.
One trailer would be dedicated to hazardous materials
response and one for Technical Rescue or USAR responses.
The tractors would be identical and interface with
either of the trailers.
Haz-Mat
The haz-mat trailer is a Hackney TC1482, 14-compartment
trailer with rear Haz-Cat and command module. The
32-ft trailer provides 950 cu.ft. of useable storage
space, excluding the rear personnel module. An 8-kw
Onan hydraulic generator on the tractor provides power
to the trailer through an umbilical connection. The
generator powers the haz-cat/command module environmental
system and lighting, 110-volt fluorescent lighting
in all exterior compartments, four 950-watt MagnaFire
flood lights on left and right sides of the trailer
and two on the rear. NFPA warning lights are Whelen
strobes.
Other than standard 600 lb. rated
shelving and trays for equipment storage, a 300 lb.
absorbent dispensing hopper was installed, along with
a slide-out rack that accommodates twelve complete
SCBAs in a "back-up and go" donning
configuration. Eight (8) spare SCBA bottle storage
tubes are provided next to the rack.
The rear haz-cat/command module
features all-aluminum cabinetry with stainless steel
counter tops. The "L" shaped configuration
provides workspace for up to three technicians. Upper
cabinets provide storage for resource materials. Two
vertical cabinets in the left and right rear corners
provide storage for instrumentation.
Technical
Rescue The technical rescue or USAR
trailer is a Hackney TU1482 specially designed to
for the high capacity requirements of this team. The
37-ft trailer provides 1375 cu.ft. of storage capacity.
The rear compartments are specially designed to accommodate
shoring panels and timbers. Up to 52 sheets of 4
x 8 plywood can be stored in the left side tunnel
and up to 28 sheets in the right side tunnel. Special
sized tunnels between the plywood storage areas are
provided for 4" x 4" x 16-ft; 6" x
6" x 16-ft; 2" x 8" x 16-ft. and 2"
x 4" x 16-ft. timbers. Due to the weight, the
trailer is provide with tandem axles rated at 45,000
lbs. with polished aluminum alloy wheels. Two belly
compartments are installed just forward of the tandem
axles providing transverse slide-out trays for storage
of storing jacks and struts. These trays will slide-out
either side of the trailer. One each of the left and
right side compartments features a fold-down ramp
for loading heavy wheeled equipment and Stanley tool.
NFPA emergency lighting is provided
by a Whelen strobe package. An Onan 8-kw hydraulic
generator provides power to the trailer through an
umbilical connection and powers 900-watt MagnaFire
flood lights on the left and right side of the trailer
and the rear, two 650-watt MagnFire tri-pod floods
on the front of the trailer and a 240VAC cord reel
that splits the power into two separate 120VAC circuits
at the power distribution box.