The Apopka Fire Department’s 25 diesel vehicles – including all fire engines, ambulances, and brush trucks – will soon have a filter installed on each vehicle’s exhaust system that is designed to filter out almost all carcinogens belched out from the diesel engines.
The first 13 of the filters were installed this week.
“What we’ve purchased now – and we were able to get one for every apparatus – will help to reduce and pretty much get rid of all those carcinogens while the engine is running. When a truck starts, it immediately begins to filter out the particles,” said Sean Wylam, Apopka fire chief.
The filters are needed, Wylam said, because fire trucks and ambulances are traditionally stored inside a bay at a fire station.
“Most vehicles, whether they’re diesel or gas, aren’t stored inside, but the fire department is unique because our having to be ready to spring into action whenever the tones go off, we have to store the apparatus inside the bay area,” Wylam said. “We know the exhaust from combustion engines release hundreds of thousands of chemical particles through the exhaust system.”
There are other ways that fire departments use to reduce the exhaust, but Wylam likes this one best.
“Traditionally, you would see the ones that have the big hoses that actually would mount inside and as soon as they would take off, the hose would come off,” he said.
“These are actually better because they ride with the vehicle. They’re always on the vehicle. They mount directly to the exhaust itself. That’s good for us not only in the bay, but on the scene because it’s constantly filtering the system itself. Even if we’re on the scene, it’s still protecting everybody.”
The new Ward Diesel No Smoke and No Smoke 2 filters cost nearly $9,400 each for a total of $234,865 with the funds coming from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
An extended story appears in the Friday, April 1, issue of The Apopka Chief. Subscribe today!
The Apopka Chief and The Planter are weekly community newspapers, independently owned and family operated, that have served the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923 and 1965 respectively.
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