REGION Authorities unveil 3 emergency vehicles

The specialized vehicles are ready to respond in the tri-county area.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Officials from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties and Freightliner Inc. were to unveil three vehicles this morning bought with Homeland Security grants awarded to Mahoning County.
The EMA staff invited area government, law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services personnel to Freightliner Inc. at 5260 Seventy-Six Drive to check out three specialized law enforcement vehicles valued at $530,000.
Clark Jones, operations director for the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency, said the vehicles are fully equipped and ready for use in the tri-county area.
The county has received $2.1 million in Homeland Security grants for purchase of vehicles and equipment for law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services and hospitals, he said.
Jones assisted Walter Duzzny, EMA director, and others in applying for Homeland Security grants. The process involves identifying potential areas where chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive devices might be used, what would be needed to protect those areas and developing a plan to deal with such threats, Jones said.
Specialized vehicles
The vehicles include a bomb disposal vehicle with a vessel that can be used for transport or detonation of a bomb, or transport of chemicals; a truck to pull the bomb disposal vehicle; and a tactical operations vehicle that can be used by law enforcement tactical response teams entering an area where there is gunfire, explosives, etc.
Depending on the situation, the vehicles can be used by law enforcement agencies to assist in emergencies in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, and parts of Mercer and Lawrence counties in western Pennsylvania, Jones said.
Youngstown Police Department's bomb disposal unit, for example, can use the bomb disposal vehicle to take a suspected explosive device to a safe location for detonation. Jones said the vehicle has room for officers, the suits and equipment they wear, the robot they can use for remote bomb disposal and their communications equipment.
Duzzny; Tim Fyda, owner of Freightliner Inc.; and Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana county commissioners were expected to attend.
tullis@vindy.com