Posted on July 10, 2015 at 2:26 PM by Blog Admin
Last spring Fishers DPW launched a Critical Response Team in conjunction with Fishers Fire Department to provide assistance in emergency situations. We caught up with two DPW employees Ben Black and Nigel Raimondo and Fire Captain John Mehling during a day of cross training to better understand how the two departments are working together to be even more efficient in emergency situations.
With the help of DPW, firefighters and technicians are able to respond more quickly on the scene. Fishers DPW employees have gotten Class-A CDL licenses to drive the Fire Department’s TSU 91 truck.
“What we do is take care of this truck and all the equipment on it,” said Ben Black. “Like the torches, if they would need to cut something, we would get it up and running so that they wouldn’t have to use the manpower or take the time to get that ready.”
In addition to assisting with the fire department’s arsenal of tools, DPW is able to provide additional resources that the fire department doesn’t always have quick access to.
“We fill the void of bigger equipment they need like backhoes and stuff like that because we can drive all that plus we have access to that on the ready for whatever they need,” said Nigel Raimondo.
Captain Mehling explained that with DPW’s help getting equipment to the scene, the fire crew regains access to at least two trained firefighters or technicians that can quickly get right to work.
“They bring an expertise to the table that we don’t have,” said Captain Mehling. “It really adds to the dynamics of the team.”