SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — If you think driving a big fire truck with lights and sirens is fun, Fire Chief Rob Penny would ask you to think again.
“It’s really very stressful,” he said from behind the wheel of his department SUV. “You’re moving people where they don’t want to go. You have to figure out, how am I going to get around them?”
Meanwhile, you’re driving a 10-ton vehicle that doesn’t stop or go on a dime.
A lot of that stress comes from traffic around intersections, Penny said. At many locations, concrete barriers or traffic prevents cars from moving out of the way for emergency vehicles.
“It’s not only causing a potential crash, but it’s also delaying us,” Penny said.
Help is on the way in the form of new technology. Earlier this summer, the township’s trustees unanimously approved a Traffic Preemption Program. Traffic signals will be able to detect oncoming emergency vehicles and turn the light green in their direction of travel.
The light will change when the emergency vehicle is approximately 1,000 feet away, allowing drivers to clear the pathway in the intersection.
“By the time we get there, it should be opened up,” Penny said.
Here’s an example from the Spokane Fire Department of the technology in action:
For emergency responders, every second counts. The department said 40% of its runs are considered time-sensitive, meaning they involve a cardiac event, unconscious person, breathing problems, shootings, entrapment or similar event.
Penny said the intersection improvements should yield about a 20% quicker response, since it saves eight seconds at every intersection: “If you’ve got 16 traffic lights to go through, that adds up.”
In 2023, the department said it made over 5,000 runs.
The cost of the new technology is $700,000 — 80% of it is funded by a Surface Transportation Block Grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation. The remaining cost will be picked up by the township.
Trustee Tracy Schwegmann said it is something the township has been looking to do for a long time.
“We were very eager, from a Trustee perspective, to implement this particular program that'll tie us in with our neighbors,” Schwegmann said.
Silverton, Deer Park, Montgomery, Blue Ash and Simms Township all have similar technology, she said. Each municipality’s device will be able to work with each other to maximize efficiency during mutual aid runs.
“It's really important to preserve the health and well being of our first responders and [be] able to efficiently serve our community,” Schwegmann said.
Preemption devices will be installed at 48 intersections by June of next year.
“We will be very happy to get the system in place so we can get to where we need to go a lot safer,” said Penny.
