KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A one-of-a-kind UTV, only just placed in service on Tuesday by the College Mound Volunteer Fire Department, was called to assist in searching for a man who had been missing for more than 24 hours — later found safe on Wednesday.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A one-of-a-kind UTV, only just placed in service on Tuesday by the College Mound Volunteer Fire Department, was called to assist in searching for a man who had been missing for more than 24 hours — later found safe on Wednesday.
The one-of-a-kind utility task vehicle (UTV), a Centaur 950 DT known as Crawler 1, has been specifically designed for the fire service, according to College Mound VFD Chief Josh Phillips who says its the only one of its kind in service in this part of the country.
On Tuesday, the College Mound VFD placed Crawler 1, which is powered by a diesel engine and sits on eight tires with a removable track system, into service to serve as a search and rescue and wild land fire response vehicle.
“Crawler 1 reached portions of the property the other UTVs were unable to reach,” Phillips told inForney.com after the search had been terminated. “It did really well.”
The College Mound VFD responded as mutual aid to this particular call in the Terrell VFD’s district and will likely be used by other departments in the surrounding area on other such missions, according to Phillips.
In addition to Crawler 1, members of the Terrell VFD, Ables Springs VFD, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers, a DPS helicopter, Kaufman County Sheriff’s deputies, CareFlite, the Kaufman County Office of Emergency Management, and members of the East-Tex Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) responded to search for the individual who was last seen at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was later found safe and evaluated by EMS on scene.
Crawler 1 is outfitted with a 100-gallon water tank which can be pumped at 8 gallons a minute at 1,400 psi. Foam can also be injected into the pumping system for more efficient firefighting.
