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BTFD participates in county wide
Vigilant Guard training
Known as a golfing and vacation
resort, hilton head island in
south carolina can accomodate
over 100,000 people during the
peak of tourist season. However,
should a natural disaster such
as an earthquake occur, it could
leave all of those people
without food, water, proper
medical attention and a way off
the island itself. on april 23,
during vigilant guard exercise
2008 in beaufort, S.C., A
national guard c-130 landed at
the hilton head island airport –
a first for the nation’s
smallest commercial runway – to
test the national guard’s
ability to protect and rescue
those potentially in harm’s way.
 In
the aftermath of a devastating
earthquake, getting drinkable,
uncontaminated water to the
masses is a critical priority.
During Vigilant Guard Exercise
2008, April 21 – 24 in Beaufort,
S.C., 18 Soldiers from Company
A, 351st Aviation Support
Battalion assisted slingload
operations at the St. Helena’s
Island point of distribution to
get more than 100 cases of
bottled water to the Daufuskie
Island area. Company commander
Capt. Samone Chapman explains
the mission.
Click here
for
complete story with pictures and
video.
Bus blaze spares students
Nobody injured after fire on No.
118.
BY AREK SARKISSIAN II
BLUFFTON TODAY
A school bus fire Monday afternoon
turned a routine ride into a scary
adventure for nine elementary
school students. According to the
Beaufort County School District
and the Bluffton Police
Department, bus No. 118 was on the
Buckwalter Parkway near its
intersection with the Bluffton
Parkway when the driver heard an
explosion and noticed smoke at
4:09 p.m.
The driver pulled over and ordered
the nine kids, ages 5 to 10, off
the bus. Nobody was injured, said
Bluffton Police Lt. Bryan Norberg.
School District academic
improvement officer Kathy Corley
said the children and the driver
were escorted to safety by several
passersby and security officers at
Hampton Hall and given water.
“When Iarrived the children were
telling me all about their
adventure,” Corley said.
Nine Bluffton Township
firefighters took about five
minutes to extinguish the blaze,
which torched the engine
compartment and rear third of the
bus. The cause of the fire is
still under investigation, fire
officials said. Monday’s fire
happened just after South Carolina
legislature lopped around $19.2 million off the budget earmarked
for buying new busses. The cut was
made by the state Senate Finance
Committee to accommodate for
aprojected shortfall in revenues.
South Carolina has the oldest bus
fleet in the nation. As for No.
118, a second bus was dispatched
to the scene Monday afternoon to
take the kids to their destination
at the Children’s Center, said
John Williams, assistant schools’
superintendent for information
services. A backup bus will run in
its place, so there will no lapse
in service. The maintenance record
for the torched bus was not
available Monday night, Williams
said.
New Technology Helps First
Responders in Bluffton
BLUFFTON, SC (WTOC) -
Highway 278 through Bluffton can be pretty congested, especially for firefighters and ambulances trying to get you the help you need. Now a new GPS system is making their jobs easier.
When there's an emergency, it's a race against the clock for first responders like EMS. "Every second counts and the quicker we can get there the better," said Danny Tinnel with Beaufort County EMS.
The same is true for firefighters. "We know a fire will double in size every 17 seconds so every second counts," said Bluffton Township Fire District captain Rick Cramer.
But as anyone who drives US Highway 278 will tell you, the heavy traffic and congestion can be a nightmare, and that's been a real obstacle for first responders in the Bluffton area.
"You would have traffic congested at the intersections where they would be stopped and we would come up behind them and they would really have no where to go other than try to proceed into the intersection themselves," said Tinnel.
"We were having a difficult time getting through those intersections," said Cramer. "With no shoulders to go on, we were actually having to sit in traffic until the traffic was clear."
But now with the simple flip of a switch inside a number of emergency vehicles, new GPS technology has helped solve the problem. "Once we turn the red lights on, it automatically activates the system," said Cramer.
That's giving first responders the green light at 11 intersections along Highway 278 through global positioning and radio signals.
"There are 22 satellites that receive the information and it tracks our movement down a predetermined corridor and it actually tracks our time, our speed, the direction of travel and then with this information it actually radios ahead to the intersection we're approaching and requests priority through that intersection," said Cramer.
Not only saving them precious time, but keeping them and other motorists safe.
This new technology has only been up and running for two weeks, so first responders aren't sure how much time it has actually shaved off of their response times, but they say they've definitely seen improvements.
The new system was paid for through federal earmarks for the 278 corridor in Bluffton.
Click Here
To See The Video from WTOC |
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Upcoming Events:
May:
8th Auxiliary Meeting @1900
13th Volunteer Meeting @1900
27th Commissioners Meeting @1600
Notes:
An Addition to the Family:
Brian Riedmayer
and his wife, Emily,
welcomed their first child,
Meredith Anne, on Sunday morning
at
. Baby Meredith, who gave her
parents a scare last month, was
full term and weighed in at 7
lbs 13 oz and was 20” long.
Combat Challenge Team Results
from Gainesville Florida:
Individual:
Stephen 1:49.97 8th Qualified
for the worlds
Charles 1:55.85 12th
Out of 58 competitors
Tandem:
Stephen & Charles 1:38.92 4th
Qualified for the worlds
Perry & Derek 1:53.85 10th
Out of 15 teams
Relay:
Stephen, Charles, Perry, Derek
and Enrique 1:28.47 Qualified
for the world
The travel team started
last year, the big learning
year. Having a year under their
belts makes a huge difference.
They learned how to train, eat,
and raise funds to go to these
challenges.
The members of the team are Stephen Arnold, Charles Bumgardner, Perry
Granat, Enrique Baez, Derek
Beeler. They train on shift 3
days and a training session goes
on for 3hrs.
The next challenge is May 23-24. The team is looking to do even
better. Thank you for all the
support you all give and show.
Everybody working as a team, is
what make this Fire Department
so Great.
The combat team would like to thank you all for this opportunity!
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