Trooper cars to get fire shields

The cars will get a less
expensive shield than the troopers’ contract called for.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Equipment that would douse fires in the fuel tanks of Ohio State Highway Patrol cruisers will be installed sooner and at a lower cost under a deal struck between the troopers’ union and the state.

Arizona-based F.I.R.E. Panel LLC has agreed to wrap the fuel tanks of the patrol’s Crown Victoria cruisers in a protective cocoon that releases fire suppressants when ruptured. The Ohio Department of Public Safety has asked a legislative panel for authority to buy 1,630 of the systems for $395 per car, or $643,850, less than a fifth of the cost troopers negotiated in their contract this summer.

The union pushed for the protection after two troopers — Trooper Joshua P. Risner and Patrol Sgt. Dale R. Holcomb — were killed in a fiery crash near Gallipolis in 2006.

But Ford Motor Co., the cruisers’ manufacturer, does not endorse the cheaper technology over the Ford-installed systems first demanded in the union contract.

“We tested both systems in equal settings and found that the F.I.R.E. Panel system did not work,” said Ford spokesman Dan Jarvis. “There are lots of things in life to save money on, but one of those things is not officer safety, in our opinion.”

Scott Starr, a spokesman for F.I.R.E. Panel, said the company’s systems don’t include the sensors, electronics and liquid chemicals that Ford’s do — but they work fine. He said the systems use powder chemicals and work automatically.

“Our system by contrast is a very, very simple system,” he said. “Our system has no choice but to activate in the case of an accident.”

Hershel M. Sigall, general counsel for the Ohio State Troopers Association, said the switch from more expensive fire-suppression devices will mean protecting all patrol cars — not just new ones — by early 2008.

“The other way, people might be driving a vehicle two years or 16 months before they are able to avail themselves of this level of protection,” he said.