February 15, 2024
Story originally posted by Nathalie Sturgeon at Global News
Welsford, New Brunswick, Canada — A fire department in New Brunswick is launching a new service aimed at improving firefighter safety.
About 45 percent of the calls the Welsford Fire Department responds to are on Highway 7 – the stretch of highway between Fredericton and Saint John, which is considered narrow and winding.
It’s the reason fire Chief David MacCready has had Safety Cloud® by HAAS Alert installed in the department’s fire apparatuses.
The system has a transponder that sends alerts to the Waze App, Apple Maps and some navigation systems in other vehicles if they are within two kilometres of an active scene involving the fire department. The aim is to make sure other drivers are aware of the presence of firefighters at a scene.
“The majority of our calls are on the roadways and so that was what made our decision for us,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “Highway 7 is a dangerous highway that many drivers know. We’ve had a lot of fatalities and close calls with firefighters.”
About HAAS Alert
HAAS Alert makes roads and communities safer by delivering digital alerts from emergency response and other municipal fleets to nearby drivers. The company streams real-time alerts and other vital safety information to motorists and connected cars via in-vehicle and navigation systems when emergency vehicles are approaching and on-scene. For emergency response and roadway fleets interested in joining the Safety Cloud, click below to get equipped.
