Plant City Fire Department acquires three electric vehicle demobilizing units
The devices will offer the Plant City Fire Department a new way to create safe working environments for first responders working with any type of full and hybrid electric vehicles.
Called an electric vehicle “Emergency Plug,” the new devices basically disable an electric vehicle involved in a wreck, so that car or truck isn’t able to be set in motion while emergency responders are working the scene.
Tuesday at the Plant City Elks lodge, 1501 N. Alexander St., the Ellks formally presented one of three new Emergency Plugs to the fire department.
In the parking lot standing next to an electric Tesla, Dustin Hill, a firefighter and chief-in-training and Deputy Chief Timothy Mossgrove, met with Elks’ President George Domedion and T.J. Lopez and J.D. Martin, co-chairs of the of the Elks’ wild game committee. That committee was responsible for raising the funds to buy the Emergency Plug, which cost just under $1,000 each and have adapters to fit more than 90 percent of the cars’ batteries.
Hill and Mossgrove explained how the plug work and the benefits they provide.
Hill, a 20-year PCFD firefighter, said the plug “tracks the brain of the car and shuts everything down.” He said the first step is to do that whether the car is fully electric or a hybrid.
“Before, we had no option to disable the vehicle so it’s safe to stay in place,” he said.
The second step, if needed, is to access the battery cut loop to secure the vehicle.
“It allows us to make the cut so we can work with the car without worrying about getting electrocuted,” he said.
The Emergency Plugs are delineated with color codes to tell what state of power the car is in: Red if the plug has no connectivity to the vehicle; Yellow if there’s limited connectivity; Green if there’s some connectivity; and if it’s Blue, it’s “safe to use,” according to the Emergency Plug website.
Among other Emergency Plug benefits, they:
Prevent an electric vehicle from driving away under its own propulsion.
Prevent responders from contacting any high voltage.
Can be used in all light cars, heavy trucks and buses.
Hill said two of the new electric car demobilization plugs will be kept on the frontline Fire Suppression Response Unit.
