July 10, 2005

New breed of cars poses unique challenges

       Hybrid cars may add more convenience to the lives of their owners who have to fill them up with fuel less often, but they present complications for fire departments when accidents happen.  Firefighters must have more training to learn how to work on the cars with quiet running engines that also use electricity to power them.  But two main issues complicate work on the cars: electrical lines that firefighters must not cut through and making sure the car is really off when it sounds like it is.  High voltage wires in the car are marked in orange, so firefighters can see them when they are cutting through a vehicle to get someone out, such as when they use the Jaws of Life, said Mike Pruitt, division chief and spokesman for the Bargersville Fire Department.  Departments need to make sure firefighters see those wires, he said.  A captain from the White River Fire Department said if firefighters follow guidelines already in place, they won't cut those wires.  If firefighters use their basic training, they will see the orange wires, said Capt. Joseph Settles of the White River department.

         New procedures have also started partially in response to the new cars. In Bargersville, firefighters are trained to take the keys from the ignition and put them on the dashboard of a vehicle in an accident, Pruitt said.  Because of a hybrid's quiet electric engine, a firefighter could assume the car is in park when it really isn't. If someone accidentally hit the accelerator pedal, the car could launch forward and injure someone, he said.  Taking the keys from the ignition will ensure that the car is turned off and will not move, he said.

         Fire departments are learning how to handle the new cars from local dealers, car manufacturers and articles in magazines and on the Internet.  The technology of hybrid cars is often studied with other additions to vehicles, such as side airbags, Greenwood Fire Department Chief Steve Dhondt said.  He said firefighters in the department go through training for new vehicles at least twice a year, but he would like to see more hands-on training.  Firefighters can often train on older donated vehicles, learning how to cut into them and what to look for. But people don't donate brand-new hybrid cars for fire departments to cut up, Dhondt said.  Luckily, his department, like many others in the county, hasn't had to deal with many of these cars yet, he said.  In Whiteland, the department hasn't had any training on hybrid vehicles, but they also haven't had to deal with them on any runs so far, Capt. Mike Holzer said.  Whiteland plans to train firefighters on the vehicles before the end of the summer, department spokesman John Plan said.

         The Franklin Fire Department also hasn't responded to any calls with hybrid vehicles, department spokesman Capt. Jason Ramey said.  Because of the hybrids' high prices, their sales in many areas are not that great, said Rick Matlock, new-car sales manager at Matlock Ford-Mercury on U.S. 31 in Franklin. Sales of hybrid cars do well in limited numbers, but they don't sell in the hundreds because they are still pricey, he said.  The Franklin dealership hasn't started selling hybrid cars yet because it was only recently certified to get the 2006 models, he said.  Sales of hybrids cars are starting to rise in the central Indiana area, according to sales managers at local dealerships.  At Beck Toyota on U.S. 31 in Greenwood, sales manager Bryan Freund said he has seen a huge increase in the sale of hybrid cars this year. He sold about 10 in June, and that was all the dealership had available.  A sales manager at Indy Honda just north of Greenwood on U.S. 31 said the dealership sells out of all the hybrid cars they are shipped in a month.  Robin Barkdull said the dealership sells two or three hybrid cars a month and probably could sell more if they had a larger supply.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)


 

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