Contra Costa County

Contra Costa County Fire Protection District unveils new, repurposed rig to protect crews

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The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is rolling out a new state-of-the-art fire rig, but it won't be used to fight fires.

The 2002 re-purposed fire engine will instead be used to protect fire crews when working emergencies on busy roadways or freeways when traffic comes by.

"Every time we go on the highway, we're putting ourselves at risk," said Charles Stark, Contra Costa County Fire District deputy chief. "If you ask a lot of firefighters, they're more worried about being on incidents on a freeway than going into a burning building."

According to officials, the new rig, "Defender 1", will provide an added layer of protection to crews. Its light and signage will alert oncoming traffic, while its 13-foot attenuator, or crash cushion, will take the brunt of any potential collisions.

"I wanted it to come up with an engine that would hopefully absorb the impact if something was to happen and save our front line equipment responding to emergency incident," said William Sayre, ConFire Apparatus Fleet Manager.

Sayre saw a similar rig used in Texas and decided to make his own version, including lights and cameras that can alert the operator of what's approaching and document any dangerous activity.

"If this saves one life, whether it's us or a pedestrian, that's my hope. That is what we're all striving for," Sayre said.

ConFire said at least a dozen incidents of drivers entering emergency zones on the freeway have occurred in the past few years. Notably, the department said, a 2023 incident on Interstate 680 occurred when a Tesla vehicle crashed into a fire engine, killing the driver and injuring the passenger.

"It's just so unpredictable out there and we don't have any control," Stark said.

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