Sewer Equipment Donates to City of Dixon’s Fire Department to Assist in Purchase of Thermal Drone
Sewer Equipment is a third-generation family-owned manufacturing business located in Dixon, IL. Many of the employees live and raise their families in the Sauk Valley Region. To the Owner, Dan O’Brien, any employee of Sewer Equipment “becomes part of the big Sewer Equipment family.”
As many rural small towns throughout America, the City of Dixon lacked funding to purchase a thermal drone to add to their arsenal for search and rescues. Dixon Fire Department Deputy Chief David Lohse stated “Sadly, with the economy, strict budgeting, and other large ticket expenses, the purchase of the thermal drone was not allocated this budget year. Dixon’s Fire Department has had two incidences this year where drones were requested and our rescue team had to wait over half an hour or more for assistance from other neighboring agencies when sometimes seconds matter during the rescue.” With many of Sewer Equipment’s employees living in the local community, Sewer Equipment quickly decided to make a generous donation to the City of Dixon Fire Department for the purchase of the needed drone.
“All of us at Sewer Equipment are grateful that our company was able to donate funding for the purchase of this drone by the Dixon Fire Department. We believe that it will be an important tool for Dixon emergency response personnel to use in the future during search and rescue missions.” stated Sewer Equipment Owner, Dan O’Brien.
According to Deputy Chief David Lohse, ““Today’s” fire service is truly an “All-Hazards” response agency. Over the last decade, our first responders have focused and trained in the areas of Hazardous Materials, Active Shooter incidents, and Technical Rescues such as High Angle Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, Swift Water Rescue, Trench Rescue, and Building Collapse. The addition of the drone will enhance our emergency service needs and will serve the community for years to come. The drone features thermal imaging capabilities which can be used to locate missing victims, assist in mitigating hazardous materials incidents, and detect hot spots in large fires where firefighters cannot access. Within the first month of having the drone it was used at a large fire to help firefighters locate hidden areas of fire.”
The Sewer Equipment family welcomed the City of Dixon’s Fire Department to their facility in November to do a “fly-by” and show the team all the capabilities of the drone. It was a great day filled with excitement shared between Sewer Equipment and the city their employees call home!
“On behalf of the Dixon Fire Department, our sincerest thank you to Sewer Equipment for the generous donation allowing us to achieve our goal. We are excited and enthusiastic about the addition of the drone and the benefits it will provide to our community. Since the purchase of the drone, humbly additional local businesses have graciously donated funds which will allow us to purchase attachments and accessories as well as training. In early December, local police officers and firefighters will attend a two-day training course to prepare them for drone license testing.” stated Deputy Chief Lohse.