Politics & Government
Baltimore County Fire Trucks To Use Safety Cloud Alerting System
The system will inform motorists using navigation applications, like WAZE, when they are approaching incidents with first responders.
TOWSON, MD —Baltimore County announced earlier this week that the Baltimore County Fire Department's newest engines and trucks will be equipped with the HAAS Alert "Safety Cloud" digital alerting system, which is designed to inform motorists when they are approaching active incidents where first responders are working.
According to a release, the alerts initially will be available to motorists who use the Waze navigation application. The system is designed to reduce the risk of crashes with first responders and other roadside workers and enhance compliance with "Move Over" laws. The alerts give motorists up to 30 seconds of advance warning that they are approaching active fire units.
The department has purchased 22 fire engines and five ladder trucks, costing approximately $23.44 million, that will be placed into service over the next two years. The new units are made by Wisconsin-based Pierce Manufacturing, which has made the HAAS Alert system a standard safety feature on all new engines and trucks.
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Officials in communities where emergency vehicles already are equipped with the HAAS Alert system have said they are an essential safety feature.
"We have emergency lights flashing and people are still running into us," Brad Brown, chief of the Grand Rapids (MI) Fire Department said in a release. "We don't need louder sirens and brighter lights, we need a better way to communicate with the motoring public. HAAS Alert is standard equipment on all our vehicles."
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Sean Canto, the chief of the Rochester Hills (MI) Fire Department, said the construction of modern cars makes the system especially necessary.
"Intersections are the most dangerous thing for us, especially the way new vehicles are made," Canto said in a release. "You can drive down the road and have a police car or somebody behind you, and you barely even hear because (vehicles are) so soundproof."
HAAS Alert has said it plans to expand the service to other mobile navigation applications and dashboard digital systems.
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