Amherst Fire District unveils new mobile trailer
By Brandi Makuski
The Amherst Fire District has some new digs for work in the field.
The AFD’s 24-foot-long Mobile Medical and Incident Command Center was unveiled last month at the department’s annual pancake breakfast.
Assistant Fire Chief Adam Meshak on Wednesday said that the department was awaiting some final implements, but the trailer will be ready for action at the MREA’s annual Energy Fair later this month.
Amherst Fire & EMS serves one of the largest areas for a single department in Portage Co. Its 40-plus members cover the town and village of Amherst, the town of Amherst Junction, Nelsonville, Lanark, Belmont, Buena Vista, Stockton, and New Hope, under the command of Chief Victor Voss.
The trailer will be on-site at public events and is suitable as a command center for mass-casualty incidents.
The trailer has running water and a refrigerator, patient care beds, storage for blankets and medical supplies, and a communication center.
AFD got “a steal of a deal” on the $25,000 trailer from another agency. Voss said it was paid for entirely with donated funds. Along with the pancake breakfast, the department holds various fundraisers throughout the year, and a five-person committee determines how the funds are spent.
Voss and other department members conducted most of the work to retrofit the trailer.
“Initially, we planned to use this for pre-planned events, but lately…that big fire we had last year at Festive Foods in Belmont; if this [trailer] would’ve been ready to deploy, this would have been a perfect incident command,” Meshak said.
Amherst, like all fire departments in Portage Co., and beyond is a member of MABAS — Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. It’s a tiered response system that helps dispatchers know which combination of fire, EMS, law enforcement, and other agencies, along with what type of resources, to send to an emergency scene.
Once the trailer is finished, it’ll be included among the assets within MABAS. Meshak said he has no doubt the trailer will get plenty of use.
“It’s completely self-sufficient, the generator can run about two-and-a-half days without having to be refueled — if we ran it 24/7,” he said. “The goal is, in the next year or two, is to put in a few more mobile repeaters to enhance communication.”
Meshak said the AFD will deploy the trailer to high school cross-country meets at Standing Rocks Park, the Amherst Fair, Energy Fair, the Lil Britches Rodeo, and other events.
“This gives us the opportunity to provide more for the community,” he said.
