Sandy Hook Firefighters Acquire ATV/Trailer For Forest Rescues

By Andrew Gorosko

The next time the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company faces a forest rescue, the organization will be better prepared for the emergency, now that the group is equipped with a compact four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicle (ATV) designed to haul a trailer that carries a patient on a stretcher.

The new vehicle, which was purchased with grant money from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will allow the fire company to easily travel on the many narrow fire roads in the Paugussett State Forest.

The 1,200-acre Lower Paugussett State Forest is in the Sandy Hook fire district. The southern tip of 800-acre Upper Paugussett State Forest is in the Sandy Hook fire district, with the larger remainder of that forest lying in Newtown Hook & Ladder’s fire district.

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) manages the forest for sawtimber, firewood, wildlife habitat, and recreational activities such as hiking, hunting, bird watching, and cross-country skiing.

Until now, when Sandy Hook firefighters needed to rescue someone from remote sections of the forest, they would enter the area on foot and then hand-carry patients who required medical aid, explained Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead. Use of the ATV will mechanize such situations.

During the past five years, the fire company has conducted about ten forest rescues, he said. The most recent incident occurred in early June, when a hiker severely sprained an ankle and needed to be transported out of Lower Paugussett State Forest for medical care.

With the acquisition of the two-seat ATV and its hauled trailer, firefighters will now be able to drive near the rescue scene, load the rescued patient onto the trailer and then drive out of the remote area, thus expediting medical care, Chief Halstead said. Patients are transported on a specialized molded-Fiberglas stretcher known as a “Stokes basket.”

The ATV also has cargo space located behind its two seats to allow a second stretcher to be transported out of the woods, if necessary, he added.

The trailer has a suspension system to soften the ride for the patient. It also has a seat where an emergency staffer can sit to attend to the patient under transport. The trailer has a mast from which an intravenous fluids drip bag can be hung.

Both the ATV and its compact trailer will be transported from the firehouse to rescue scenes inside a larger enclosed trailer that will be hauled by either a small fire truck or a pickup truck.

Besides forest rescue work, the ATV can be used by firefighters at brush fires, Chief Halstead said.

Sandy Hook firefighter Archie Paloian is in charge of the fire company’s ATV and its related equipment. The diesel-powered Club Car ATV has been designated as fire vehicle “446.” The ATV has headlamps and emergency lights. It is registered for travel on public roads.

The ATV and the small trailer that it hauls cost a combined $13,800. The larger enclosed trailer that hauls both of those vehicles to rescue scenes cost $6,100.

Besides the DHS grant money that Sandy Hook firefighters used to buy the ATV and trailers, the town’s four other volunteer fire companies have used similar DHS grants to buy equipment.

Those items include: a hydraulic power unit for a rescue tool, smoke ejectors, and radios for Botsford firefighters; a hydraulic power unit for a rescue tool for Newtown Hook & Ladder staffers; an air compressor for Hawleyville fire personnel; and a natural gas meter, a heart defibrillator, and radios for Dodgingtown firefighters, explained Chief Halstead, who is also the town’s emergency preparedness director. Local ambulance volunteers and police also receive DHS grants for their equipment needs.