From Show Floor To Disaster Site – Ford Rescue Concept Truck Pressed Into Service [Video]
Typically the vehicles you see at car shows behind the velvet ropes are not considered to be ‘road ready’ and this is especially the case when it comes to concept vehicles. However this wasn’t the case with Ford’s F-550 Super Duty Rescue Truck as it hit the Chicago Auto Show in February with everything working and ready to go.
This turned out to be a good thing when on April 3 a series of devastating tornadoes struck Arlington, Texas, causing an incredible amount of damage, to the point that first responders where having a hard time reaching those that needed help.
So what does this have to do with a concept Ford rescue truck?
Well it seems that the local volunteer fire department in Arlington had advised Brad Synder, vice president of marketing at NewScope Marketing, in Grandbury Texas, about building an extreme rescue truck for Ford Motor Co; and now that it had been built and was operable they desperately needed that truck to be pressed into service.
This is why on April 3 Synder found himself driving the F-550 Super Duty Rescue truck in the hardest hit spots of Arlington.
“We assisted with tagging houses and making sure no one was still inside some of them,” Snyder said. All told, Snyder helped with more than 100 houses in the Arlington area.
The truck is equipped with thermal imaging devices that can pickup a person’s body heat nearly a half-mile away. Additionally, there a big lighting rig on the truck, which Snyder said was used to light both sides of a street during the night when no one else had power.
There’s also a full generator big enough to run a house, as well as lots of medical supplies and emergency gear firefighters could use to clear debris and dig out survivors. Snyder also provided food and water to fire fighters and others in need.
via Autoblog
The truck also comes with its own Dopler radar which allows it to provide accurate up-to-the-minute weather information for rescuers.
If you are in the market for one of these trucks look to spend around $150,000 but this one is back in the shop getting cleaned up for its job back on the showroom circuit.
Here is a video of the truck being shown off at a auto show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztnLFX56TFA
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Steven Hodson Steven has been around the tech world long enough to see most of the stuff we think of cool happen before which leads to a certain bit of cynicism that has contributed to him being known as the cranky old fart of the Internet. Besides sharing some of the goodness that he finds with you here at 42x you can also find him curating some digital goodness at Winextra (tech type stuff) and Rotten Gumdrops (for your daily dose of WTF).
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