Colchester is rolling out some new equipment to keep first responders safe in the field. The addition of the scorpion truck the fire department is using comes on the heels of dangerous incidents for first responders around the state.
Colchester is introducing new equipment to enhance safety for first responders in the field.
The fire department's latest addition, the Scorpion truck, comes in response to recent dangerous incidents affecting their crews and first responders around the state.
“These vehicles whizz by you,” said Steven Hoffman, fire chief in Colchester.
He’ll be the first to tell you, roadside scenes like the ones they respond to, can be dangerous.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
“Unfortunately people come through going excessively fast, not paying attention,” Hoffman said.
Following fatal incidents for first responders and DOT workers in 2024, including the deaths of Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier, and DOT worker Andrew Didomenico, as well as close calls continuing to make headlines around the state, Colchester fire and EMS, have rolled out the new technology.
“DOT already uses these vehicles on the side of the highways for protection on construction sites, why can't we use them?” Hoffman asked.
Local
The vehicle is a1980s international truck taken from Colchester’s Public Works Department retrofitted with a scorpion system off the back. The project was funded by a DOT-sponsored Highway Safety grant.
It is the first truck you would approach when you’re driving toward an emergency scene. Parked strategically on a roadside to protect both the $1 million fire trucks responding the lives of the emergency workers.
“We have money, we have lives, and this just helps us put that extra layer of protection,” said Chief Hoffman.
The idea, according to the department, is if a car were to veer off and crash into the back of the truck, the spring system would partially absorb the hit.
“If you are on the side of the road, if you are on the side of the highway, you are in harms way, you are in danger,” said Josh Morgan with the Connecticut DOT.
The DOT has been using these trucks in work zones for years and they said the trucks are hit nearly weekly.
According to the DOT, it’s a replaceable mechanism, but the lives of their workers are irreplaceable. The tech, they say, is essential in work zones around the state.
“It provides some reassurances that if there is an incident, we've got this barrier of equipment out there to keep us safe,” said Morgan.
Colchester is just the second fire department in the state to roll out these trucks for first responders. The other is Norwalk. But the chief said they have been getting questions about it, and he hopes more departments will hop on board and utilize these trucks.
“It’s just that enhances level of safety at the end of the day we all want to go home,” said Hoffman.
As we approach the summer months, the fire department, and CT DOT are asking people to slow down and move over for work zones and disabled vehicles on the roadway. They note it’s the law.
