COLORADO SPRINGS — Two road closures in Colorado Springs are happening right next to fire stations.
The public is told to find alternate routes.
The fire department has to have more options.
“Sometimes when the public can't get through because of the work, we still have a contingency for the emergency vehicle to go over that road base or that dirt, even though the asphalt is no longer there,’ said Colorado Springs Fire Department Deputy Chief, Steve Wilch.
Airport road right next to Fire Statin 8 is closed and Voyager Parkway next to Station 22 is blocked to the north.
Closures do not create an exception for fire department response times.
“The first apparatus to every alarm should be there within eight minutes,” said Wilch.
Fire department leaders coordinate with construction managers well in advance of road projects starting to mitigate impacts from any closures.
Options include routes through a zone designated for emergency vehicles.
They use GPS and mapping programs to look at time efficient alternative routes.
Fire department Driver/Engineers are responsible for getting the vehicle and the crew to the alarm, so they are studying their districts.
Wilch said, “This is how we navigate without technology. Is we know where there's these impact zones due to daily traffic flow, due to construction and other things.”
Fire crews from other nearby stations can also be dispatched for quicker response.
“One of the things that technology has allowed us to do is we use Automatic Vehicle Location. It's called AVL, and we can see where all of our apparatus are in the city, and we can see who is closest to that address, that 911 call,” said Wilch.
Road blocks are countered with a strategy of multiple routing options for emergency responders.
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