Three pint-sized rescue trucks - each looking like "a golf cart on steroids" - soon will snake through crowds at parades and festivals throughout the city, starting with Guavaween this month.
Tampa Fire Rescue purchased the vehicles, which are similar to minipickup trucks, in 2005 with an Urban Area Security Initiative grant for search and rescue calls. But because the compact size allows personnel to squeeze through crowds with ease, Fire Chief Dennis Jones decided to expand its use.
A new $15,000 grant from Aon Risk Services Inc. and Fireman's Fund Insurance Company allowed the agency to modify the vehicles. One is outfitted with medical equipment, a stretcher and a seat for a paramedic to tend to a patient while a driver transports the patient to a waiting ambulance, Capt. Bill Wade said.
The other two each have a fire pump, 50 feet of hose, a 75-gallon water tank and foam for fighting small blazes such as vehicle fires and grease fires from vendor carts, Wade said.
Jones officially unveils the new gear Thursday morning at Tampa Fire Rescue headquarters but released photos of the minitrucks today.
"Time is of the essence when responding to any emergency, and these little modified rescue units enable us to provide expanded service in the community," he said in a statement.
Wade said each truck resembles "a golf cart on steroids" but has a heavier-duty transmission.
Like their full-size counterparts, the trucks have emergency lights, but they don't have sirens, just horns, Wade said.
"The first real test will be Guavaween," the Halloween festival and parade in Ybor City, he said.
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